


The Lion's Den

by Insular



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Cuddling, Dominance, M/M, Magic, Making Out, Tacos, Technology, Troubled Past
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-10
Updated: 2017-01-13
Packaged: 2018-08-14 14:25:33
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 40,117
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8017477
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Insular/pseuds/Insular
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Null finds himself trapped in a world that's increasingly depedent upon technology, and something has to been done with the looming threat of the forgotten art of thaumaturgy.</p><p>Tags are updated as the story progresses.</p><p>-Indefinite haitus until I stop being a lil piece of shit-</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My contribution to the Archive's tiny collection of Reinhardt fanfics! Enjoy!  
> Any feedback is appreciated!

_Grrrrr_

Null clutches his stomach, cringing at the pain. It hurts so bad, and he knows he'll have to eat soon.

He looks around his apartment. It was poorly furnished, with a beaten, small, round wooden table and a creaky chair in the corner, a stove that hasn't been turned on in years, his broken mattress, and a bedtable that's still standing, surprisingly. The walls weren't even painted, the drywall crumbled in places, and the heater in the corner tried its best to warm up the place, although its efforts were mostly in vain.

Sighing, he reluctantly leaves his sad excuse for an apartment, snatching up a few dollars from his bed table for some food.

He slowly makes his way down the stairs to the first floor, then out into the cold, cloudy November afternoon, protected by nothing other than his tattered clothes.

Null crosses the street, pissing off a few drivers because of how slow he was. Entering a fast food restaurant, he's greeted with the warmth of a functioning heater, a welcome feeling any day. He purchases a small fries and a hamburger. It wasn't much, but with the budget he had, he really can't afford to spend any more money.

He tries his best to eat slowly, the first time he's eaten in about two days. Since the Nexus was disbanded due to corruption and disputes, he was deprived of any money, and he had to live on whatever loose change he found lying around, occasionally stealing from the rich.

He sighed. _What's happened to me? What happened to my glory days?_

Although his past scarred him and was the source of his depression, a part of Null wishes he was back in them. At least in World War II, he had regular meals. Now, he's starving himself to save a few dollars, and he won't even use the lights to read until it was too dark to see anything. Even then, he'd just put away his book, one of three that he's read hundreds of times, and stare at the moon until the morning came. He was exhausted, lonely, and worst of all, he missed Caroline, an AI he created in a past life. She gave him company, and a slew of drugs to help keep him awake 24/7.

He returns back to his apartment building, which was located in some sketchy part of the city. Thieves and murders were quite common, and perhaps it was luck the cashier didn't try to stab him. Anyways, he could defend himself, and it was the only place he could find where he didn't have to pay rent, because no one really owned any land here. There were no laws. It was total anarchy.

"Y-you've got m-m-mail sir," a quivering voice says.

Null turns to see the source of the voice, and it's the mailman. Poor guy, he was likely forced to enter these parts to deliver him the envelope, and probably not paid enough to do this. He probably saw many murders, and escaped a few himself, on the way here. Trying his best to smile warmly, Null takes the envelope.

"Thank you."

It was strange, mail was completely obsolete in this day and age. Email was the standard, unless you were trying to be archaic. It's a surprise that the postal service still existed, but then again, this city was pretty dated, with most buildings crumbling and falling apart due to the aging mortar, unlike the shiny, pristine new buildings, constructed with hard light and lab-synthesized alloys designed to be ptactically invulnerable against dirt and wear and tear.

He looks at the envelope, but it was completely unmarked, other than his address and name, which was printed in some old fashioned font with serifs. He goes back up to his apartment, collapsing on his beat up mattress and carefully tearing open the envelope. There's a letter in there, and he nearly drops his bottle of water when he begins to read.

It was an invitation to the Overwatch program! It must've been regrouped, and the letter was probably for the sake of anonymity, as the Petras Act deemed any Overwatch activity to be illegal. Or did they already repeal it? Who knows, he didn't bother keeping up with the latest news.

And how did they find out about him? Yes, he did consider himself a vigilante in these parts and prevented a great deal of murders, but he did so silently, and in the shadows. There's no way some sort of surveillance isn't involved here.

Whatever the case, Null's excited, until he realizes that he's not very well equipped for the trial he must prove himself in. He didn't have his old arsenal, not that he could use it, and his only weapons were a staff, and a pistol. And the pistol was there in case he decided to commit suicide, not to help him get into Overwatch.

Damn it. Where would he get the money to at least dress himself? The blue shirt he always wore served him well enough, but it was tattered, covered in blood and other bodily fluids, and could fall apart at a moment's notice.

He turns on his laptop, which he charged by stealing electricity from his next door neighbor, same thing with wifi. He didn't steal from her too often, and she never seemed to notice the small amount he took anyways.

_Please please please._

He types in the old password the Nexus gave him so many years ago, hoping that there's at least a few dollars sitting there. Sometimes money came and went, for some reason. Probably because some members linked investments to the shared account, but he was never fast enough to withdraw the funds.

_Balance: $0.03_

Three cents. Three _fucking_ cents. He can't even withdraw them, the fee to do that online is a few _dollars._

Null buries his head into his hands. He doesn't really have any friends, and he can't just go around asking strangers for money. He would never stoop that low.

 _Steal,_ a voice whispers into his ear.

He didn't have much of a choice, did he? He did steal from time to time if he was truly desperate for money, and he usually stole from the rich and gave some to the mothers living on the streets, like Robin Hood. This isn't any different, right?

He climbed out of his bed, heading for the nearest store that wasn't robbed yet, which was somewhere between the slums he lived in and the rich part of the city.

"Give me whatever's in the register," Null says quietly, not even bothering to raise his staff.

The cashier's eyes grow wide. He knew this day would come, that someone from the slums would eventually rob the store.

Frightened at Null's calm disposition and politeness, he didn't even contest, and quietly emptied the register. Someone so calm probably has a crew to back him up, and the police also tended to avoid this area too.

_Wow. That was easy._

"I'm sorry. I'll pay you back in some way," he says, leaving the store. He was astounded by the amount he made off with, which was much more than enough for the time being.

Immediately, he buys some new clothes and towel, a duffel bag to carry it all, and some other various essentials. No need for heavy duty luggage gear, he didn't own much anyways.

As for the teleporter, he rented one use off a particularly expensive, but trusted, brand. There's no way he's risking losing a limb over this, especially if he can afford it.

He punches in the coordinates listed on the letter, and watches the machine glow and work its magic. A blue oval flickers before him, and he takes a deep breath before stepping into it, hoping for the best.

_Oh god._

He's heard from people that stepping into a teleporter for the first time was disorienting, but this was much more severe than he thought.

Popping out the other side, he collapses to the floor, heaving and trying not to throw up his lunch.

"First time?" A voice asks.

Null looks up, and is greeted by a small woman.

"Don't worry, love, I almost threw up too when I first teleported!" She giggles, helping him up. "I'm Lena, but you can call me Tracer! What's your name?"

"I'm Null..." He manages, leaning on her as the world started to straighten.

"OoOoh! You must be the new recruit!"

"Well, let's not get ahead of ourselves here, I still need to pass the trial," he chuckles.

"Don't worry, love! You'll do great! I gotta go somewhere, but good luck on your trial! I'll be there!" She says in her jovial attitude, then dashes away, leaving behind a light blue trail.

Picking up his duffel bag, he looks around, and he's in a central hub room of sorts. He wanders out into the hallway, meandering around until he stumbles into what Null believes to be the lobby.

"May I help you?" A woman sitting behind the desk politely asks. Her expression was guarded, and she seemed to reach for something underneath her desk.

"Yeah, I'm Null, and I got this letter around yesterday?" He says, holding up the letter, showing her the printed insignia and everything.

"Ah, yes. That explains how you got here. Please, follow me."

She rises from her seat, disappearing down a hallway. Null follows, and they eventually reach a room that she opens.

"This will be your temporary residence."

"Thank you."

She leaves, probably to return to the lobby. He enters the room, not sure what to expect, and he's greeted by a room that went beyond his expectations. There was a bed, a personal bathroom, and a small table accompanied by a chair. The evening light softly spilled into the room through a glass wall.

Living in his shitty, cramped, and worn down apartment really brought down his standards, and the mattress, although not the most comfortable in the world by far, was like a heaven send to Null.

Taking a quick shower, he wanders the halls even more, not sure if he was supposed to, but it's not like he found anything meaningful other than locked doors; probably other rooms like his. He felt so happy, wandering the halls carelessly, wearing clothes that didn't make him itch constantly, and a belly filled with a measly lunch. The only thing missing is sleep. He's so tired, but he knew he couldn't sleep. The Voices made sure he wouldn't, at least not for days at a time.

Feeling a little peckish and returning to his room, Null finds a tray of dinner sitting on his bed, still warm and waiting patiently for him.

_Food._

When was the last time he could sit down, and eat an actual meal, not just some cheap fast food he could barely afford? Probably a few lifetimes back, and Null found himself quickly scarfing it down. 5 minutes later, he's leaning on the headboard, a feeling of contentedness washing over him. If he wasn't so tired right now, he could die happy.

Speaking of fatigue, he struggled to stay awake, but the food made him so warm inside. He slowly drifted asleep, fighting until the very end, giving up at the last moment and hoping he'd wake up in one piece.


	2. Chapter 2

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

The gentle, but insistent, noise slowly rouses Null back to consciousness, dragging him from the depths of whatever dark magic grappled at his mind.

Null's eyes flutter open, blindly swinging his arms around for a moment as he wakes up in a panic. He could still feel the grip of the Voices on his mind, clawing at his sanity. He can't allow himself to do that again. Not alone, anyways, but that's out of the question. He puts a hand to his face, feeling the cold sweat that clung there. His heart was still pounding, threatening to burst out of his chest.

The glass wall to his side slowly transitioned from a solid black to transparence to allow the morning sunlight flood in. The beeping promptly stops, followed by a gentle voice that seemed to permeate the walls.

"Good morning. I am Athena, and I will be guiding you to your Trial today. You have fifteen minutes to prepare."

Unable to pinpoint where Athena's voice came from, Null took a quick shower and changed into some new clothes. He finds that a small meal has been deposited on his bed while he was gone, and he quickly scarfs it down, suddenly aware of the burning thirst in his mouth.

He takes out the metal staff that he found on a dead body years ago, the staff that bailed his stupid ass so many times. He ran his hand along the cold metal, worn and rusted at the tips. It was old, ready to give up. He didn't want to say goodbye to it; it would be like saying goodbye to an old friend.

"I'm ready, Athena," he says, trying to clear his mind.

"Excellent. Leave your belongings here and proceed along the highlighted path."

A faint blue path is illuminated beneath his feet, fading in and out of existence. He follows the path, focusing on the sound of his sneakers hitting the linoleum floor. It's not long before, he reaches the end of the hallway, where he meets a double door.

"Good luck."

The doors slide open, and he steps into a seemingly mundane, but huge, arena of sorts. Other than a door at the opposite end, the room was devoid of anything else.

"Begin," a speaker hidden in the ceiling booms, the deep voice resonating throughout the large chamber.

A little panel rises from the ground, presenting him with the option of ranged or melee combat. He chose the latter, having left his pistol back in his room.

A hard light dummy materializes in front of him, holding a staff. It was so realistic that, if he didn't see it materialize, he could've mistaken it for an actual wooden one.

They stand still, a few meters from each other. He looks around, strangely uncomfortable. Is he just supposed to hit it or-

_**WHACK** _

Not only could the dummy attack him, but it moved with _surprising_ speed, catching Null off guard for a second. He recovers, finding that his nose was starting to bleed.

 _Shit._ What a wonderful way to start this.

Raising his staff, his heartbeat slows to a crawl, despite the adrenaline flooding his veins. He's done this many times, and this is no exception. Just another person trying to rob him, right?

The dummy moves to strike again, but he was faster, especially now that he anticipated it. He quickly deflects the dummy's staff, before using its momentum to throw it across the room. It skitters on the ground a bit, before quickly rising again.

This was easy. _Too_ easy.

They spar for a bit, both of them unable to one up the other. Whenever Null thought he had an opening, the dummy would easily deflect him, almost as if it already knew all his actions. It throws itself at Null again, aiming for his head. He tries to block it, but his staff decided it was finally time to call it quits. The brittle metal bends a little, then shatters gloriously in his hands.

This isn't good. Null wasn't, by any means, physically capable of taking down anything with sheer strength. He never really worked out, a thaumaturge like him never needing to to begin with.

Null stares at the two halves in his hands, refusing to believe that his trust staff finally broke. His opponent takes this chance to whack him in the face as hard as it could, sending him flying. Null lands on his ass, and shuts his eyes, putting up his hands in an attempt to block the anticipated onslaught.

A second passes. Two seconds, and nothing happens. What?

He tentatively opens his eyes, and he finds himself in a clearing in some sort of forest, reminiscent of something you'd see from a horror movie. Unmoving, dead trees surrounded him, and a thin layer of fog clung the ground. The sky was dark and gloomy, and the thin layer of warm air surrounding him finally gave way to the cold air, casuing goosebumps to form on his arms.

He gets up, and his head starts to swim. His vision starts to flicker between the forest and the arena. Null struggles, fighting to return to the arena, and he loses, succumbing to whatever magic is doing this. He takes a step forward, two steps, and his world steadies. He trudges forward, rubbing his hands over his arms in an attempt to warm himself up. His heavy breathing made a small cloud in front of him, further obscuring his vision.

He hears someone shout his name. He flicks his head to the source, and in the distance he could make out the silhouette of a girl.

_Arline._

He's not sure how he knows it's her, but his gut just _knows._

Yelling her name, he starts to run towards her. He left her for dead once, he wasn't going to fail her again. He could still remember that god forsaken day, still remember her screams as she struggled against the Eldritch Guardians. Still remember himself watching helplessly as he was sucked into the vacuum of the Outer Lands portal. No. He can't fail her now. Not again.

"Null!"

He's nearly there, until he's suddenly shoved to the ground. Tumbling forward a little, he's pinned to the forest floor by a force, forced to smell the rotting leaves and twigs that littered the ground.

Wait... it smelled... familiar.

No. This can't be real. This has to be a memory, or an illusion. There's no way he could be back there, on the same day. It's been nearly 60 years.

A hooded man walks into his peripheral vision. He doesn't speak, simply looks at Null with quiet interest. After a few moments, the force relents a little, allowing him to sit up.

_No._

Arline screamed, and Null was forced to watch as the figure raised an axe and swiftly brought it down upon her.

He wanted to shut his eyes, look away, _anything_ that wouldn't burn that image into his retinas.

The man cut her _in half._

Null watched as the two halves slowly fell to the sides, making a sickening sound as they did so. A few fibers still clung to the other side like a lifeline, slowly tearing as they were stretched beyond their limits. It was disgusting, seeing a cross section of another human; he could see her brain, her stomach, even her intestines. Her veins and arteries spewed like a geyser, soiling the figure's clothing.

Null roars, a familiar energy flooding through him. He was always a calm man, gritting his teeth and swallowing his pride constantly. He'd viciously suppress his anger, never letting anything get to the best of him.

This was not one of those times.

He begins to thrust his arm forward, and he's shoved quickly back into reality, back into the bright, harsh, artificial light of the arena, where the dummy towered in front of him. He can't react fast enough to stop himself, and there's a booming _crack._

The dummy exploded fantastically, a million hard light shards cascading to the floor and slowly fizzling out of existence, like denaturing confetti.

"That's enough," the voice says, but it sounded different. Almost like he was scared.

_Fuck. Not good._

A door on the other side of the room opens, and he walks to it, head swimming. He's afraid of what they'll think of him, what'll happen because of his outburst. His legs are weak, threatening to collapse and make a fool of him before he even reaches the exit.

He's greeted by a few people which he could only assume were his judges, and most of them just stare at him like he's a ghost. Either way, they seem to be in deep conversation, discussing whether he'd be a welcome addition to Overwatch.

A giant ape makes its way towards him, examining Null. He looks him up and down, and Null started to get uncomfortable, the eyes behind those glasses seemingly all-knowing.

"Congratulations, you passed your Trial! I'm Winston, and you'll get to know everyone else soon too! You'll be properly inducted soon." He says, shaking Null's hand.

"Thanks…" Null mutters. He could feel himself shaking, couldn't steady himself for some reason.

"Tracer here will show you to your room."

"Heya!" She waves, speaking in her usual jovial attitude.

"Hey."

"Need a tissue for that nose?"

"I'll be fine."

They begin to walk through the winding halls of the headquarters, and Tracer refused to stop talking. Not that he minded, it was nice to interact with someone else for a change. Her happy attitude helped distract him from the horrors of whatever happened back at the arena. Eventually, he forgets about it, shoving the already fading memory to the back of his mind, hoping it won't resurface for a while. Or ever.

"That thing you did to the dummy! That was wicked!"

Shit. Did everyone else know what he did to the dummy too? Information travels pretty fast in this day and age, and he wouldn't be surprised if they whole world knew it already. God, the thought of that terrified him.

_Calm down. The King's been dead for centuries now. The witch trials don't exist anymore._

"Oh yeah… _that_ thing."

"What's wrong, love?"

"I'd rather not talk about my…'abilities'"

"Got it. Here's your room!"

"Thanks," Null mutters, letting the door slide open before walking in.

"I'll see ya at lunch!" She says before the door slid close.

He turns his back to the door, taking in the room in all its glory, and it was strangely… empty.

Other than basic furniture, like a bed and bed table, it was practically devoid of any furniture. Did they expect him to furnish it himself? That made sense, but there's no way he could afford that.

Null sighs, unpacking his few possessions and trying to make himself at home.

Glancing at the clock on the wall, it's nearly noon. Making sure his laptop was charging from an outlet he found, he left for the cafeteria, hoping he'd find it with dumb luck.

"Lookin' for somethin'?"

Null turns to look at the source of the voice, and he meets a man in apparel he could only associate with the Wild West.

"Name's McCree. That was one heck of a show you put on back there. You lookin' for the cafeteria?"

"Yeah."

"Down that'a way, then take a left."

"Thanks!" He smiles, grateful to know that people were helpful here. It was a refreshing step from the slums, where you couldn't trust anyone; one false step, and you'll wake up on a pile of dead, rotting bodies in a dark alley, realizing you're missing some organs. If you were lucky, you'd still be able to move, but at best, just barely able to crawl out of the alley before your body realizes it doesn't have a liver anymore. At that point, you'd die, and no one would ever bother looking at your body twice before moving on.

"No problem, kid."

Null follows McCree's directions, glad that he didn't mislead him. He finds Tracer sitting at a table, along with a few others, and he joins them.

"Hey Null! You made it! This is Ana, and that's Torby!" Tracer says, gesturing to the other two sitting with them. Torb was quite the muscular midget, noisily wolfing down his food, whereas Ana was quietly sipping her tea, nibbling at a sandwich.

"I told you to stop calling me that, Lena," Torbjörn mutters through a mouthful of food.

She giggles. "No way!"

Torb simply rolls his eyes, going back to shoving food into his mouth.

"Where did you guys get your food? I'm kinda hungry."

"Reinhardt will get to you. Don't worry," Ana assures him.

"Who?"

" _That_ guy," she says, pointing behind him. Null turns around to see a large, muscular man, at least a meter taller than him, carrying a plate on a hand. Reinhardt made his way to him, with a stride that made his pride evident. He wore a gray sweatshirt, with something that was definitely not written in English printed on the front of it.

"For you, my friend!" He says in a thick German accent, carefully placing the plate down in front of him. There was a pretty appetizing looking sandwich, accompanied with some fries and ketchup.

"Hey Reinhardt. This is Null, the new recruit."

"Ah, yes! Quite a show you put on back there, I must say!" He says, examining him with a smile. "I will need to make time to properly introduce myself to you! Well, I will be returning to the kitchen now, auf wiedersehen!"

Reinhardt makes his way back to the kitchen, careful to not run into others. Tracer and Torb leave for the lab, saying something about a chronal accelerator.

He bites into his sandwich, and _holy crap_ it was amazing. The bacon was perfectly crisp, and not too much to the point where it disintegrated if he bit too hard. The lettuce and tomato helped make it taste fresher, accompanied with the perfect amount of mayonnaise to help supplement the bacon's fattiness.

"Did Reinhardt make this?" He says, not wanting the taste to ever leave his mouth.

"Yeah, he's a pretty great cook, isn't he?" Ana sighs, staring at where Reinhardt was before.

"Is everything alright?" Null asks, taking another bite.

"I just can't seem to get his attention..."

"Reinhardt's? You have a thing for him?"

She frowns. "Promise me you won't tell him."

"My lips are sealed. What are you going to do about him?"

She sighs. "I guess I'll just ask him to the Thanksgiving party."

"Thanksgiving party? Wait, what's the date?" It's only after the words left his mouth that he realizes how stupid he sounded. Of all the things he doesn't know, it's the damn _date._

"The 21st..."

"Three days. Damn, good luck."

"Thanks, but I don't think I'll need it. If he isn't taken, it won't take much to court him. Just some flowers and cards," Ana says, resting her head on a hand and sighing dreamily.

"Huh. I think I'll go explore the place a bit more now. See you later, I guess. Good luck!"

She salutes him and returns to her tea, which was starting to get cold.

* * *

"Null? Is that you?"

He quickly glances up.

"Reinhardt?" Null says, putting down the shirt he's holding.

"Hello! Are you shopping for clothes?"

"Yeah. What are you doing here?"

"Looking for some currywurst. Would you like to join me? This is a perfect chance to properly introduce myself!"

Shrugging, Null puts down the shirt he was looking at, hoping that he didn't make too much of a mess on the table of neatly folded shirts. Even though it had only been a day since he joined Overwatch, he already needed new clothes; most of the ones he had bought a few days ago mysteriously disappeared, and no one could help him find them.

He follows Reinhardt out into the street, wincing as the afternoon sunlight was a bit blinding compared to the dimly lit store.

"Why were you looking for currywurst in a clothes store?" He asks, trying to make conversation. He watches as his breath condenses into a small cloud in front of him, before quickly dispersing.

"I wasn't! I thought I recognized your face, so I went in to investigate. Ah! I love this restaurant's currywurst!"

They enter the building, greeted with the warm air that circulated inside. They're seated at a small booth, Reinhardt struggling to fit, Null chuckling at his predicament. Reinhardt promptly orders some currywurst, while Null ordered some chicken tenders and fries, not wanting to spend too much money on the food.

Reinhardt takes the lead, taking about his achievements and status as a decorated German soldier, how he valiantly pushed back the Omnics in Eichenwalde. He went on a rant about the wonders of currywurst, as well as his love for David Hasselhoff's music and wrestling.

Null can't help but smile at Reinhardt and his personality. No wonder Ana liked him; it was almost intoxicating, being around him. He lived by some sort of knight's code of honor, and he could see the man sweeping Ana off her feet, her shining knight in armor ready to save her from all her troubles. It was like a match made in heaven- the two of them appeared to be in the same age range too!

Eventually, they part ways, leaving Null to shop clothes and furniture in peace. Overwatch had access to some deep pockets, nearly as much as the Nexus, and he was given quite a large sum of money to furnish his room. So much, in fact, he sent some back to the store he had robbed a few days ago. Hopefully, the cashier didn't get fired yet.

He sits back on his bed, watching some cartoons on the TV he had bought. He might be an adult, but he's also the youngest member of Overwatch, beating Hana by a year.

Yawning a little, Null stretches, and realizes how tired he is. He tries to shake off the feeling by wandering around the halls, brewing some coffee in the lounge, even listening to some particularly energetic music, until he realizes he's _still_ nodding off. Eventually, he resorts to tinkering in the lab Torbjörn worked in, his moving hands helping to keep him from the allure of sleep. He hadn't gotten his own area yet, but he had a feeling Torb wouldn't mind.

He tries to busy himself with reverse engineering the biotic rifle, but he can't seem to focus. Caffeine could hardly keep him awake at this point of his life. If anything, all it did was give him a small crash a few hours later.

His eyes wander around, until they rest on a table in the dark corner of the lab. He turns on the lights there, pushing the light dimmer as far as he could and flooding the place with the harsh light, hoping it'll trick his brain into thinking it's still daytime. Sliding his chair closer to get a better view of the table, he finds a suit of armor that was in desperate need of repairs, the metal worn and dull. Wires stuck out in places, and a reactor of sorts was sitting in the pile of metal. The technology looked pretty archaic compared to today's standards, and Null figured even he, without Caroline to assist him, could do the repair work.

Sighing, he puts on a welding mask, slides on a pair of protective gloves, and gets to work.

Just another sleepless night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Suggestions? I aspire to have kriegersan's level of story telling ;-;  
> Auf wiedersehen = goodbye!


	3. Chapter 3

Null takes a step back, taking a look at the night's endeavors. He takes off his welding mask, slipping off the thick gloves where his sweat pooled for hours. It was a nice reprieve, his sweat-drenched hair finally able to breathe and dry off.

It took him all night, but he managed to almost completely repair the armor's internals. The exterior still looked worn and beat up, but it didn't look like it was to the point where it would compromise the integrity of the armor too much.

He smiles a little, watching snow fall gently to the ground through the glass wall in the lab. It was nice, knowing that he didn't have to worry that some guy would try to break in and steal his stuff.

Rubbing his eyes to the point where he saw stars under his eyelids, he returns to his room to take a quick shower before wandering into the lounge. He rummages through the fridge, taking out a slice of pizza and shoving it into the microwave. He brews some coffee while it warmed up, making himself comfy on one of the huge sofas before nibbling at his measly meal.

Null sat there, exhausted and sipping on his coffee, thinking about whatever came to his mind. It was nice: just him, his coffee, and the snow.

_It would be better with someone else…_

Null shakes his head, trying to banish the thought. He can't have a lover, unlike everyone else. All he could do was sit and watch as the others around him found their special someone. Watch as they fell in love, get married, had kids. All the while he toiled day and night, refusing to even fall asleep, to even _feed_ himself properly. God, what a pitiful sight he was.

Tears start to form in the corners of his eyes.

_No, not again._

He could feel himself getting pulled back into a distant memory, his vision starting to turn hazy and dreamlike.

* * *

 

_"Null!"_

_She runs towards him, lifting his head off the floor. She began to tear up, refusing to believe her own eyes._

_"No…" he manages, coughing violently. He puts a hand to his mouth, grimacing as he pulls away. His fingers were coated in blood, although it didn't quite look right. In the torchlight, the blood glistened a crimson red, but there were hints of purple as well, slowly spreading through the fluid._

_Not good. Definitely not good._

_"I'll- argh." He clutches his side, wincing at the pain. "Go. Tell the others I've defected."_

_"But you're dying! Please, come back with us! We can- we can fix this!"_

_"No… they'll follow the blood trail. Just… go."_

_"What about us?! We'll surely die without you!"_

_"I've -" he's interrupted by a coughing fit, careful to not get any blood on her. "I've done all I can do. Taught them all I can teach. Please, just leave me. Save yourself."_

_"But-"_

**_"Go!"_ **

_She takes one last look at him, before carefully lowering his head onto the ground. She walks away, pausing at the doorway._

_"Goodbye, Null," she says, her voice cracking. Null was surprised; she never showed her soft side to anyone else, not even to him. She stayed strong for the sake of the Guild, and was admired for her bravery, often told that she was Null's destined soulmate. They both knew he wasn't interested, that they could never be truly together, but they entertained the idea for the sake of the Guild._

_They'd sleep together, but only for the benefit of warding off the Voices, a phenomenon that plagued thaumaturges._

_They'd eat together, but only because everyone else saw them in the mess hall._

_They'd cry together, but only because everyone else was devastated when they found out another one of them had died, brutally murdered at the hands of the King._

_They tried their best to act like a couple, and everyone fell for it. The toddlers, the adults, hell, even the elderly truly believed they were in love._

_"I will see you again, when the sun sets for you," he replies softly, suddenly feeling old._

_She leaves without another word, disappearing into thin air, the air slightly energized as she silently teleports away._

_He knows she'll never forgive him._

_Null takes a deep breath, his lungs screaming in agony as they filled with air. The pain was getting too great to bear. Soon, he'll experience the sweet release of death._

_He could hear thundering footsteps on cobblestone starting to near him. They would be here soon. They would capture him, bring him before the King. They would torture him to satisfy their sadistic cravings, maybe even rape him. After he died from the sheer loss of blood, they would throw him out onto the streets, letting his body slowly rot in the summer heat. No one would care, they'd simply step over his corpse and go on their with their daily lives._

_All because he was a thaumaturge._

_He stares at the ceiling of the dimly lit room, feeling his life slowly ebb away as his blood trickled steadily from the corner of his mouth, coughing every now and then. It was calm, peaceful almost. He imagined some clouds above him, imagined he was a child again, laying on a hill and trying to find objects in the shapes of the clouds. He imagined himself tumbling down a hill, through fresh, green grass. He imagined the childhood he never had, the childhood he was deprived of. He imagined the feeling of happiness, of love._

_A weak smile creeps across his face, and it's only now that Null is hit with the epiphany- Penelope loved him._

_He takes one, last, shuddering breath, the deafening footsteps ringing in his ears._

_"For the sake of the Guild."_

* * *

 

He doesn't notice it, but he's started to sob quietly, feeling the weight of his burden in his chest, feeling the weight that he tries so hard to ignore everyday. He had failed the Guild, failed thaumaturgy, failed _humanity_ in general. He deserved this hell, forced to stay awake for the rest of eternity. He didn't deserve anything better. Hell, he didn't even deserve to be in Overwatch. Why couldn't some other person get his place? Why wasn't someone else sitting on this couch, enjoying this cup of coffee? He didn't deserve this; all he did was fuck things up. He was nothing more than a liability, nothing more than a _burden_ to humanity.

"Are you okay, my friend?"

He knew it was Reinhardt, there was no way it wasn't. He'd know the accent from anywhere.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Null says without turning around, surprised at how meek his voice came out to be. He sounded tiny and fragile, his voice cracking a little.

Reinhardt sat down next to him, slinging an arm over the back of the couch.

He could feel Reinhardt's body heat rolling off in waves, caressing his skin before melding with the lounge's air. He could smell Rein's cologne, gently tickling at his nose before dissipating.

"What is wrong?" He asks gently, his voice solemn, devoid of the usual energy that was so characteristic of the man.

"It's… nothing."

"Clearly, that is not the case!"

He sighs. He can't just lie to this man. Reinhardt would just see right through them. "I just… ugh. You wouldn't understand."

Reinhardt falls quiet, acknowledging the fact that Null didn't want to talk about it.

Sitting there with Reinhardt's arm around him, Null feels this warm feeling slowly spring up in his chest. It felt… weird, foreign.

It felt _good._ He wanted more of the feeling, but at the same time, he was scared. It's unlike anything he's ever experienced before.

He felt safe, knowing Reinhardt was next to him. Sniffling a little, Null starts to close his eyes, starting to rest his head on the man's large chest, until he quickly comes to his senses. Hopefully, the other man didn't notice.

"Oh- god. I'm sorry. I-I'll be going now," Null stutters, quickly scrambling away from him.

 _Why_ did he do that? Goddamn it, he let his feelings get to him. The feelings he worked so hard to bury, so hard to repress. He thought by now they'd never see the light of day ever again, that he finally lost the ability to _feel_ love. But no. Of course he hasn't.

Fuck, he's probably with Ana by now too. She's not going to appreciate that.

He quickly makes his way out the lounge, finding his way back to the lab. He tries to focus on completing the repairs, but his mind keeps drifting off. He can't help but think about Reinhardt; his huge muscles, swaddling him and keeping safe from all harm. His proud personality, which was a treat to experience. Fuck, even his _cooking_ was amazing. He could probably give the guy some random condiment and a loaf of stale bread and he'd _still_ find a way to make it taste amazing.

He notices he's starting to drool, and he can't tell if he's drooling over Reinhardt's cooking or his body.

_No. Stop. Fucking stop._

Null sits there for a minute, staring at seemingly nothing. Internally, he struggled to regain his control, fighting and pushing down the feelings he wanted to never, _ever_ resurface again.

"Ana's a lucky woman," he finally murmurs sadly, as his mind finally shifts its focus to the damaged armor. He picks up a flat head, starting to zone out. It was part of the reason why he tinkered so much in his freetime- something about his hands moving around to assemble something greater delighted him, helped him pass the time.

* * *

 

**_Clang._ **

Null jumps in his seat, looking at where the sound came from. He sees a large, dark, and fuzzy blob, until his eyes adjust.

"Reinhardt?"

He was wearing a dark blue shirt, and some black pants. Damn it, why was he wearing a shirt that was _clearly_ much too small for him? God, the fabric was skin tight on his muscles, making them even more pronounced than usual.

"Hello!" He waves. "I am just checking on my armor! Are you sure everything is okay?" He picks a monkey wrench off the floor and puts it back on a table.

"Yeah," Null answers flatly.

Reinhardt carefully makes his way to Null's corner of the lab, appearing to waddle as he steps over the parts that littered the floor.

"Ah, yes." He picks up a piece, running his fingers over the metal. "Did you do this?"

Null nods in response, trying his best to not stare at the hunk of muscle towering over him.

"Impressive, if I do say so myself!" Reinhardt glances at Null, a mischievous smile tugging at his lips. "Would you like to try it out?"

"Wha- me? No!" He chuckles, imagining himself trying to climb into the armor- quite the ridiculous sight. "There's no way I'd fit!"

Reinhardt insisted, promising that his smaller stature wouldn't be too much of a problem. After finally caving in, Null summons a cart, moving the pieces to the training room. Reinhardt helps Null reassemble the suit, opening it up to let Null climb in.

It was incredible.

God, he felt so powerful in the suit. It was heavy as hell, yes, but damn did you feel like you were indestructible while inside. Trying to move around, it felt stiff, almost like the metal was fighting his movements. At best, it felt like he was trying to walk through thick syrup, but if he made a wrong move, he'd probably tip over and fall on his face.

He tries to curl his fingers into a fist, surprised at how effortless it was. There must be some sort of pneumatic assist system in place for this stuff, but why wasn't there something for limbic movement?

"Well?"

"I feel… strong?"

The words came out weird. He wishes he used a better word, but he couldn't seem to find one. "Strong" just seemed to fit the feeling.

"Try picking up the hammer!"

Null bends down, wrapping his fingers around the weapon. He pulls on it as hard as he could, but it barely budges. Reinhardt erupts in laughter, leaning on the armor a little for support.

"Can I get out now?" Null asks, a faint blush creeping across his face. He felt embarrassed, but wasn't sure why; he was a thaumaturge, not a bodybuilder. He _was_ powerful, just not in this respect.

"Take the helmet off," he replies, still chuckling.

Null struggles to move the suit around, which felt oddly hollow. He was about a meter shorter than Reinhardt, not to mention his lack of muscle compared to the man. It was more like he was in a large shell than actual armor.

He manages removes the helmet, wincing at the light of the training arena; it was harsh compared to the helmet's dim interior.

Nothing happened.

Shit. He must've wired something wrong. But if he didn't wire the removal of the helmet to open up the suit, what did he wire it to, exactly? There weren't any leftover wires the last time he checked…

A loud, jarring, and sustained beep told him. He looks around, and it suddenly feels much warmer than usual.

Crap.

Reinhardt must've known what that meant, and he could hear him grunting as he tried to pry open the armor.

"Do not -urgh- worry my friend!" Reinhardt tries to assure him, but even he didn't sound so sure himself.

Null's eyes were stung with sweat, his body starting to perspire profusely, almost choking on the heat. Despite his situation, he takes a deep breath, calming himself down. He almost laughs, realizing how stupid he must've looked, practically meditating as the metal that surrounded him started to turn a bright red. A blob of it melted and dripped onto his shoulder, burning through the flesh to the bone. Most people would give up by now, admit defeat and succumb to the heat, but Null was able to push past the pain temporarily; it's not like he's afraid of death.

He places a hand on the metal, forcing his hand to stay there despite the searing hot surface. His hand responded with a symphony of agony as he felt his hand get cooked alive, the muscle getting cooked alive and the nerves burned to a crisp.

A single pulse of energy flows through him as he falls unconscious from the heat and pain. It weakened the metal to the point where Reinhardt could finally pry open a hole through the armor, quickly reaching in and wrenching Null from the melting metal. He brings Null to his chest, making sure he was safe as his armor shut the reactor off and tipped over, grazing his arm and searing the skin off there as it fell.

Reinhardt collapses on the ground, still cradling Null in his arms, promptly blacking out.

* * *

 

_"Incredible."_

_His eyes fly open, frantically looking around. Is he dead? Is this limbo?_

_Null sits up, trying to find the source of the voice. He's still in the shop, lying on the ground. The air was still charged a little; Penelope's teleport._ _This must be right after he died._

_Looking behind him, he could see his dead body, lying in a pool of blood, eyes shut and mouth ajar, tainted blood still trickling a little from his mouth._

_He looked almost at peace this way. A peace he had never gotten to experience before when he was alive._

_He's offered a hand, and he takes it, getting up. Before him stood two hooded figures, one in white robes, the other in black. Both of them stood like stone, unmoving._

_"I am Ordo," the one in the white robes suddenly speaks in a smooth voice, almost like silk to his ears._

_Quickly realizing who he was, Null kneels, careful to be respectful. Ordo chuckles at the sight, finding human traditions to be odd._

_"Rise."_

_Null obeys, scrambling back up. He looked into Ordo's eyes, hidden beneath the shadows of his hood, gleaming in the lightless store. Ordo was all knowing, all powerful._

_"Your deeds during your mortal life have impressed me. I want you to be my successor."_

_"O-of course!" Null chokes out, "I would be honored to." He bows, unsure what to do in this situation._

_A hidden smile creeps into Ordo's face._

_"Your time on this Earth is not over yet."_

_Null stares at the ground, unable to believe what was happening to him._

_"You mean… a second chance? At life?"_

_"Yes."_

_He could fix his mistakes. Make things right for once. He could return to the Guild, continue to be their protector, continue to be their hero._

_Null looks back up, back into those eyes that made him horribly uncomfortable._

_"I understand." He nods slowly, carefully, hesitantly. This has to be too good to be true. "_ _Hngh-"_

_Pain surges through his body, reaching levels that he didn't even know were possible. He wanted to scream, to fight back, anything to be relieved of the torment, but he knew it would be futile._

_For the sake of the Guild._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The plot _thickens._ Sort of.  
>  It's more like really thin soup at this point.  
> Anyone else read the new chapter of So Long and Goodnight? I'm currently dying on the inside and my writing doesn't come close to that quality. Sad times :(


	4. Chapter 4

Null wakes up with a gasp, instantly sitting upright.

He felt… weird. He felt well rested, and his mind practically clear of the Voices. How long has he been unconscious? An hour? A day? No way he's been asleep for a day, he'd have gone insane by then.

As his vision adjusts, he looks around, concluding that he was in the infirmary; he was wearing some sort of gown, the air reeked of antiseptic, and beds lined the walls, accompanied with monitors and other various medical apparatuses. His hand was wrapped tightly in bandages, but otherwise, he felt fine. His shoulder seemed to have magically healed, with some light scarring where the flesh had regenerated. A single IV ran from his arm, and he pulls it out, not caring for whatever it was delivering to his veins. Probably morphine, but it didn't matter now. He snatches some gauze from a nearby bed table, wrapping up where the IV was and staunching the light bleeding.

Making his way out of his bed, he finds a cane to lean on, feeling oddly drained with every step. He didn't like having the walking aid, and with time, he abandoned the stick.

He finds his way out of the infirmary, returning to his room to shower and change before wandering into the lounge, suddenly aware of his thirst. He grabs some bottled water from the fridge, making his way to a couch when he sees a familiar silhouette.

"Ana?"

She turns around, silently motioning for Null to sit with her.

"How are you feeling?" She asks. She looked distracted, distant from Null.

"I feel fine." He twists off the cap, the cracking of the plastic poking through awkwardness. "What are you doing here?"

"The party's winding down, so I decided to retire to the lounge."

"The Thanksgiving party? Wait, where's Reinhardt?"

She shoots him an angry glare, but her face quickly softens, her shoulders slumping a little.

"He… wasn't interested," she mutters, intensely staring at her cup of tea, almost like she was having a staring contest with it.

"Oh… I- I'm so sorry…"

She looks at him again, this time with a sad smile.

"Don't be. It's not your fault," she says, brushing aside a stray strand of hair.

Her last few words resonate in his head, making his head spin a little.

_It's not your fault._

It was the first time anyone had ever told him that something wasn't his fault, that he wasn't responsible for every little damn thing that ever happened.

"Are you alright?" Ana asks with a quizzical look.

"Uh? Oh, yeah, I'm fine."

Taking another sip of water, he gets up. "Where's the party? Cafeteria, right? I'm gonna get something to eat."

"Yeah. Oh, and here. Before I forget…" She tosses him a pin of the Overwatch insignia, which he catches seamlessly. "You were supposed to be properly inducted today, and we can't afford to reschedule."

"Oh." He puts it on, careful to not ruin the fabric. "Thanks."

She salutes in reply, taking another sip of tea.

* * *

 

He could hear the quiet din of the cafeteria as he turned the corner. The smell of food, of turkey, mashed potatoes, and pie wafted into his nose, his head spinning a little at the overpowering aroma. He quietly piled food on his plate, not wanting any attention from the others. He wasn't exactly the most social person he knew. One of the least, in fact.

"Null!" Tracer calls him over. "We were just talking about you!"

Just his luck. He reluctantly walks over to her, finding another woman with her.

"This is Mei!"

"Hi!" she says through a mouthful of pie.

"Hey." Null sticks his hand out, Mei reciprocating with a firm handshake.

An awkward silence falls upon them, Null quietly staring at his plate of food while Tracer looks between the two, wanting them to bond.

"Hey Null, want to show us that thing you did during your Trial?"

"I'd… love to, but I can't. Sorry."

She gives him a disappointed look, and Mei left to get some more food.

"Hey, uh, do you happen to know where Reinhardt is?"

"Oh, that big guy? Isn't he at the infirmary?"

"Huh?"

"He insisted on staying with you after he woke up."

"Oh. Really?"

"Yeah, isn't he sweet? He probably felt bad about the incident."

That made sense; on the outside, Reinhardt was someone you probably wouldn't want to fight, but he's really just a giant teddy bear once you get to know him. Null breaks off, heading to his room to eat his dinner alone. He isn't exactly the most social creature, and even the small encounter with Tracer, while pleasant, still drained him.

He plops down on his bed, watching some reruns of old cartoons and enjoying the food. A few minutes in, there's a knock on his door, and he goes to open it, finding Reinhardt stanning outside.

"Sorry-"

"I-"

They both stop, the air tense and awkward.

"You first," Null chuckles.

"I am sorry about the incident." Reinhardt rubs his neck, his eyes cast down on the floor.

"No, it's my fault. I screwed up the wiring," He replies. "How're your hands?"

"They are as good as ever. Dr. Ziegler is quite the medic," he smiles. "How are your injuries?"

"Mmm. Just some light scarring," he says, showing him his shoulder. He could see Reinhardt's concern, the lines on his face more pronounced than usual.

"I'll be fine. _I_ messed up the wiring, you did nothing wrong."

Still frowning, Reinhardt takes another scan of his body."If you say so," he says, his voice just a tad bit softer than usual. "What are you doing here, eating in your room alone?"

"I don't really like parties. Too many people, too much noise. I can't handle that kind of stimulation."

Reinhardt nods thoughtfully, watching Null eat his food.

"So, what do you think of Ana?" He asks through a mouthful of mashed potatoes, leaning on the doorway.

"She is a lovely woman."

"Why didn't you go to the party with her?" Somewhere in the back of his head, he knew he shouldn't do this, but he had to know. She just seemed so upset earlier. "You were supposed to be her knight in shining armor, here to save the princess from certain doom," he jokes, lightly punching Reinhardt on the arm.

"I am… not looking for a princess."

"You're looking for a… prince then?" Null ventures.

Reinhardt stares at a spot behind Null intently, his face turning bright red. A blanket of silence fell upon them. His words hung in the air; thick, unwanted, almost smothering.

"Is that a problem?" He finally murmurs. His voice was low and soft, cracking a little. He sounded so innocent and fragile, like a water droplet, ready to burst at the slightest force.

"N-no! Of course not!" Null realized he fucked up, that he went too far. Perhaps the man hasn't fully come to terms with his sexuality yet, and he's probably just making the hole he dug himself into deeper and deeper.

"I must be going now." Reinhardt says, turning away and leaving Null alone with his empty tray of food.

He can't help but speculate- Reinhardt seemed to actively seek him out for his company, even letting him try out his armor. He also stayed with him in the infirmary, which probably explained the absence of the Voices.

 _The absence of the Voices._ It suddenly hits him.

Shit. The man must've been _pretty_ close to Null the whole time if he slept so soundly, possibly even sleeping in the bed next to his, something that probably wasn't very comfortable for his large stature. And what about a Tether? Did one form while he was asleep?

Null stares at the ground, the spot where Reinhardt was standing just a moment ago, a part of him wanting to delve further into this matter. He was so close to what _may_ be love, so close to something he had denied for years, centuries, and he was excited, but at the same time, he was scared. What if he was wrong, that Reinhardt is just this friendly, that this is all just platonic?

He worked so hard all his life to bury these damn feelings, only to have them resurface time and time again. What if he's not ready for _love?_

He shakes his head, expelling the thoughts to the deep abyss of the back of his mind. Letting the door quietly slide shut behind him, he heads for the cafeteria to return his tray, where, thankfully, no one wanted to talk to him. He sits in a corner of the cafeteria, stealing a chair and quietly observing what was left of the party. By now, nearly everyone had left, except for a few, who were dancing to their music after they took over Lucio's DJ system. In the air was a large banner, suspended on the ceiling, congratulating Null for getting accepted into the Overwatch program.

It was nice. He felt warm and fuzzy inside from the food, and he was free to brood in his corner. He sat there for a few hours, deep in thought until it was a little past midnight, just staring at seemingly nothing.

At last, he takes a deep breath, leaving the cafeteria and heading for the workshop. There, he sits and quietly assembles two guns, personal favorites of his when he went through a phase of intensive research on guns. He feels the hours tick away as he replicates the blueprints perfectly, always managing to find the raw materials he needed. It was odd, almost as if someone _knew_ he was going to build the guns, and had left everything he needed sitting around in the heaps of scrap that littered the workshop.

Sunlight slowly creeps up on Null, hailing the start of another day of his dreary existence. He holds up the completed weapons to the light, letting the light bounce off the metal, showing off their dull shine. They looked pretty modern, despite being designed nearly 60 years ago, all sleek and shiny from the metal. One gun was mostly black, and the other mostly white, so he could quickly identify which was which.

A fleeting sense of pride filled his chest as he slowly turned over the weapons. What should he call them? Project DPL31-7, Revisions T.9 and G.3 didn't exactly roll off the tongue.

He thinks about it for a few minutes, finally settling with Argon and Xenon, two noble gases.

They were a deadly duo, and when he had realized the true power of the guns, he dismantled them and buried the blueprints away into an archive, afraid someone might get their grubby little hands on them and do something horrific. But now, he needed a weapon, and surely enough, Argon and Xenon were the best candidates. Both were deadly accurate and powerful, and to put even _more_ icing on the cake, both guns didn't need to reload either; they used energy-based projectiles, and they drew fuel from the air, manipulating quantum mechanics to generate what was, essentially, a low current of free energy.

He turns the guns in his hands, about the size of Tracer's pulse pistols. They felt so small, weak compared to larger guns like Jack's heavy pulse rifle, but he knew the true power he held in his hands. Arguably, they were one of the finest weapons technology could create, pushing the boundaries of what was possible. In fact, unless Null started to infuse them with magic, he couldn't find a way to improve them further; they were as small as he could make them, they had virtually no recoil, deadly accuracy, and Xenon did outrageous amounts of damage, Argon's utility compensating for it's lack of any real damage. The only thing he could really improve was firing rate, but none of his trials with them proved that to be necessary.

He heads for the lounge once again, finding Reinhardt sitting in a corner, talking quietly to Törbjorn. Both of them seemed to notice him, but they refused to acknowledge his presence, quickly turning around and continuing on with their conversation. Not bothering to investigate, Null sits down at a couch at the opposite side of the room, watching the rain pound on the rocks outside through the glass wall. Perhaps Mei was right- human influence on the atmosphere was producing some wacky weather patterns. It was snowing only a few days ago, and now it's a more comfy 10 degrees celsius outside, even though it's nearly December.

He sighs. The view of the ocean outside was amazing, and it's only now that Null takes the time to appreciate it. The jagged rocks on the cliff that the facility sat on, the steep drop into water beneath him, nearly 50 meters if he had to guess. The rain was relentless on the rocks, ever so slowly carving small channels that funneled into the ocean.

Null mindlessly takes out a cloth and polishes Argon, the repetitive action soothing and helping him ignore Reinhardt's hushed whispers.

A sudden, loud alarm that blared through the halls startled the three.

"Emergency meeting in the Briefing Room in 5 minutes," Athena announces, her tone clearly urgent.

Taking one last look at Argon, Null gets up and heads for the Briefing Room, Reinhardt and Törbjorn doing the same. He tries to make eye contact with Reinhardt, but the man looks away, purposely avoiding his gaze. Eventually, Null gives up, settling for staring ahead, focusing on navigating through the labyrinth of halls and endless doors.

He reaches his destination, the doors quietly sliding open to let the three of them in, and he joins the entire Overwatch crew in intently watching the table in the center.

The lights dim, and a hologram appears on the table, forming a 3D model of New York City in all of its glory.

"Recently, there has been a surge of distress signals coming from the city. Citizens have reported Omnic sightings and activity. Photographic evidence points to models that have not even been _categorized_ yet; this is possibly the next generation of Omnics, and they are unlike anything we have seen before, able to cause unprecedented destruction. Federal agents have already evacuated the majority of the city, and it is your job to get the rest to safety and shut down the Omnics. Take off in 5 minutes."

The moment Athena's voice cuts out, nearly everyone in the room starts to scramble, the room suddenly buzzing with activity, and Null follows suit, dashing to his room to change into something more suited for battle.

He takes out his old robes, made from enchanted fabric- a relic of his past. He feels the soft fabric, turning it in his hands. They were a deep, regal purple, and they almost seemed to shimmer a little in the light.

He sighs, trying to decide whether to use them or not. On one hand, they were ludicrously comfortable, could maintain an internal temperature, and was resistant to magic. On the other, it wasn't like the Omnics used magic, and the robes will be completely useless against their attacks.

Null takes a quick glance at the rest of his wardrobe, realizing that he doesn't have anything else that offered much more protection. Shrugging, he changes into them, comforted by the familiar feeling of the silken cloth on his skin. He slings his pouch over his head, letting it rest at his hip and stashing Argon and Xenon in it before bolting out of his room.

He meets up with Tracer boarding one of the hovercrafts in the hangar, her usual smile plastered on her face but unable to hide the seriousness underneath it.

"Heya!"

"Hey. You piloting this thing?"

She adjusts her aviator glasses, patting the metal hull before entering.

"Yup! The MV-261 Orca! Ain't she a beauty?"

"Damn. Is that a hoop in the corner?"

"Mhm!" She nods enthusiastically. "Got some Pachimari laying around too if you want!"

Null takes a look around, settling into the sofa in the corner, playing with a Pachimari; these things are just so damn cute. Tracer makes herself comfortable in her pilot's seat, turning on the hovercraft's engine and going through basic preflight procedures. A few familiar faces board, including Reinhardt, who's forced to take a seat next to him. He takes off his helmet, pretending to be occupied with inspecting it.

"Prepare for takeoff!" Tracer shouts from the front, a sudden lurch startling Null.

They leave the hangar, ascending above the clouds. He watched in awe momentarily as he saw the tops of the clouds, a sight he's never seen before; he never sat in a plane before.

"Arrival in approximately… 2 hours."

Another lurch, this time forwards, and he could feel the acceleration of the Orca, almost pushing him towards Reinhardt.

Null takes a furtive glance at the man. "So… Reinhardt. About earlier…" he begins, rubbing his neck and staring at the table.

"It is okay Null. I am at terms with my sexuality, but not everyone responds well to it," he mutters, his voice deep and rough.

Null lets out a breath, glad Reinhardt wasn't angry at him.

"Would you like a round of Hearthstone?" He asks, pointing at the tablets, hoping to change the subject.

"I am quite rusty, but this old dog still knows a few tricks!" Reinhardt replies, a spark igniting in his good eye. He gets out of his armor, letting it stand next to him. They start up a game, Null going with Anduin while Reinhardt picked, naturally, Garrosh.

They begin, Null cringing at his starting hand. Even after discarding some particularly shitty cards, he _still_ managed to get 2 cards with ridiculous mana costs; Mind Control and Prophet Velen. Sadly, this wasn't his deck, but at least he had the coin.

They duke it out, slowly whittling at each other's health. Reinhardt made the mistake of completely forgetting to use his hero power, and in the end, Null managed to crush him with an endless amount of heals.

"You know, you should probably target my Lightwell next time."

Reinhardt growls in bitter defeat, which wasn't unreasonable. When he lost, Null was _still_ at full health, going from 2 health to 30 with a clutch Reno Jackson, swinging the momentum entirely in his favor. After that, he plopped down a Lightwell and buffed it with a Divine Spirit, his Prophet Velen insanely useful, and poor Reinhardt's deck refused to give him the Execute he so desperately needed.

"Again! Again!" He challenges, the familiar spark returning to his good eye.

They play a few more rounds, and Reinhardt eventually racks up 2 wins compared to Null's 3. They went for another game, but they conveniently landed just before they started, and had to shift focus to their mission.

"Now arriving at New York City," Athena announces. "Welcome to Manhattan."

They touch down in Central Park, near The Lake. According to Athena, that was the actual name of it, which Null found to be completely ridiculous.

The hologram of the globe on the table suddenly shifted to a map of New York, a green dot on their location. A layer of red hologram coats the map, indicating the density of suspected Omnic activity. Green areas were on the map too, pointing to people who were hiding from said Omnics.

"I'll take Lower Manhattan," Jack says, cocking his rifle. "Ana and Reinhardt, you're coming with me. Tracer, Null, take Upper Manhattan. Dr. Ziegler, Törbjorn, and Mei will arrive there-" he points to a spot on the map "-any minute, and it's your job to clear their landing area for them. Got it? Move out!"

They separate, Tracer bolting out the door, much too fast for Null to ever hope to catch up. He takes up a slight jog, before he remembers that he's in his thaumaturge robes. He murmurs something, and his boots come to life, instantly amplifying his speed and jump height, although he still couldn't keep up with Tracer's chronal accelerator.

Leaving Central Park, he practically skips through the streets of Manhattan, observing the buildings around him.

It was cold. Empty. Desolate. New York was usually buzzing with life, the streets filled to the brim with people and cars, and here they were, the high rise buildings towering above him, so cold and lifeless. Even the sky gave off a feeling of hopelessness; it was a dark gray, a sign of bad things to come. It gave him the shudders- he was born here, and he couldn't imagine this place being so dead, so devoid of people. Litter danced around the streets, the light breeze scattering the various shit that people left on the ground, like candy wrappers and small bits of paper.

A distant booming startles him. Even Tracer stopped her constant zipping to stand next to Null, her pulse pistols out and ready to shoot at something. His hands instinctively go to his pouch, ready to take out his guns.

"It's coming from the west. Do you wanna check it out?" He asks, glancing at Tracer.

"Yeah!"

She bolts again, Null running as fast as his enchantments will allow him to.

"Null!" She suddenly yells through the comm. "I found some civilians!"

He runs to her location, meeting her at the front of a grocery store, a little out of breath.

"Hi!" He waves to the civilians, who were cowering in a corner, trembling a little.

"Y-you're not one of the machines, are you?" A girl asks, no more than 6 years old.

"No?" He gives Tracer a confused look. "We're here to save you. C'mon, let's get you guys to safety," he says, reaching out a hand to the girl. She hesitantly takes it, the warmth of his hand calming her trembling, reassuring her that he was, in fact, human.

"Tracer- go ahead of me and keep the way clear."

"Aye-aye!"

He convinces the civilians to leave, a small band of 5 people. There were 3 men that were in heavy jackets, and a pregnant woman that was presumably the girl's mother. As he held the girl's hand, she begins to introduce herself to him.

"My name's Carmela. What's yours?"

"Hi Carmela, I'm Null. We're going to make sure you and your mommy are safe. Okay?"

"Okay." Her mother gives him a grateful look, nodding in approval. "I like chocolate ice cream. What do you like?"

"I like vanil-"

Another boom resonates through the streets again, this time noticeably louder. Whatever's causing the noise, it's getting nearer.

"Let's move faster," he says, and no one objects, the whole group obediently picking up their pace.

Another explosion. Another avenue.

"Tracer! Where do we drop them off?" He shouts through the comm. At this point, they had broke into a run, Null carrying Carmela on his back.

"Where we landed!" She shouts, "there's another hovercraft waiting for the-" she suddenly cuts out, a moment of static going through before the channel went completely silent.

Stopping his run, he swears under his breath, making sure Carmela didn't hear him. He glances at the nearest corner. They were on the intersection between 3rd Avenue and East 72nd Street, nearly back to the park.

"Alright. You- what's your name?" He points at one of the men.

"Martin," he replies, shifting his weight from one foot to another. Null clearly made him uncomfortable.

"Martin. I need you to get the others to Central Park. There should be a hovercraft waiting for you. It is _imperative_ that you do not, under _any_ circumstance, turn around. Do you understand?"

He nods gravely.

"Okay. Go! I'll make sure the way is safe. Goodbye, Carmela. I hope we meet again."

"Bye-bye!"

They depart, Null sprinting to the last location Tracer's comm broadcasted while Martin led the others to safety.

"Tracer!" He shouts, reactivating the boot's enchantments and taking out Argon and Xenon. "Tracer!"

Where the hell is Ziegler and Törbjorn? And Mei?

He finds a mangled, metal bench buried into the asphalt. He follows the bench's path of flight, turning around a corner, and his mouth drops open.

The sheer scale of the destruction was hard to put into words. It was like a tornado ran through the avenue, completely demolishing everything in its path. Skyscrapers were torn on one side, exposing offices to the harsh winter cold. The ground was covered in a layer of glass shards and metal pieces, his boots shattering the shards even further with every step.

"Tracer!"

He shudders a little, his thin robes suddenly not insulating enough for the cold air. The breeze rang in his ears, snow starting to fall to the ground. His cape fluttered in the wind, Null clutching to it for warmth.

 **"LENA!"** He yells once more. The wind was quickly picking up, the snow starting to obscure his vision. This can't possibly be natural; there's no way a blizzard could set in this quickly.

Shit. What about Carmela? Martin? There's no way they could possibly get to safety this quickly.

He grits his teeth, the snow flying so quickly it cut his face, causing him to bleed out of tens of cuts. He freezes in place, unable to decide what to do next. He wanted to return back to Carmela, to make sure she was safe, but he also had a duty to Tracer. Dammit, _why_ was he such a let down?

His legs give out, completely numb from the frigid air. His face meets the thin carpet of glass shards, burying themselves into his face, making him bleed even more.

Nothing mattered anymore. He sobs freely into the glass, not caring if anyone heard him. He had failed Tracer, and worst of all, he failed Carmela. At this point, they're probably both dead, and it was all his fault. He always let people down. Never, ever, has he ever done the opposite.

Another boom, this one dangerously close to him.

This is it, isn't it? Null gives up, knowing that it wouldn't be worth the hassle of getting back up and facing the blizzard that swirled around him.

A strange sense of peace washes over him. This was nice. Just him, the cold, the howling wind, and the glass in his face. His vision slowly turns white, and he could feel a layer of ice starting to form on his arms, his legs, his face. He simply laid there, letting the cold slowly claim him.

It would all be over soon. Just another life. Just another death. Soon, he'll be given a new body to deprive sleep of. He closes his eyes one last time, his sense of touch failing him. It felt like he was floating through air, through space, through _nothing._

He dreamed of what could've been if he wasn't such a coward with Reinhardt. If he made the first move, _any_ move. If he allowed himself just this one time. He imagined the man's thick, muscular arms around his stomach, cradling him and holding him close, Reinhardt's voice serenading his ears as he murmured sweet nothings.

Null smiles sadly, a final tear leaking out of his shut eyes. He's never wanted anything so badly before.

_Was that another explosion? No, that sounded more like metal. Metal on metal. Right?_

The sounds around him become distant, dreamlike. The howling in his ears ceased, and he could feel himself slowly drift away.

The familiar grip of death consumes him once more.

* * *

 

<Song: Echos - Gold https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iody_E2xujo>

_All I feel is emptiness here._

_Searching for what you want me to say._

_I'm terrified by their eyes when they stare._

_This loneliness won't go away._

_-_

_Nobody knows who I am._

_I've got intentions of gold,_

_With my plans._

_Nobody knows who I am._

_I've got intentions of gold,_

_With my plans._

_I've realized nothing I do feels right._

_Lost in my head and out of sight._

_Dreaming of the day when I leave._

_And what the world has left for me._

_-_

_Nobody knows who I am._

_I've got intentions of gold,_

_With my plans._

_Nobody knows who I am._

_I've got intentions of gold,_

_With my plans..._


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ich verspreche - I promise  
> Es tut mir leid - I am sorry

Almost like waking up from a dream, Null finds himself to be standing in a dimly lit room with a man staring out a window. The room itself was reminiscent of an old fashioned study, furnished with bookshelves, arm chairs, and a desk, all made with a dark mahogany wood. The uniformity of the wood lended the room a sort of consistentcy, adding to the luxurious and expensive vibe the room gave off.

"Welcome back," the man says, his voice deep, refined, and smooth. He wore a tuxedo, his slender body elegant and fitting perfectly with his suit.

He looked weak enough for Null to take down with just his fists, but he knew to never judge a book by it's cover; nearly all thaumaturgists had virtually no muscles, yet they held unfathomable amounts of power back at any given time. Perhaps that's why Null always gravitated towards burly men; he would never fight a mundane with magic, and having a guy who could protect him would be nice.

"Hey. How's the wife?"

The man sighs, running a hand through his hair. "Not well." He turns to Null. "She wants me to orchestrate Lux Aeterna."

"So, why don't you?"

"It's quite difficult to organize all the souls here, as you would imagine."

Null chuckles, seating himself in one of the armchairs. The chair was plush and pliant, probably memory foam as it conformed to his body. His taste in furniture might be classical, archaic, even, but he had quite expensive tastes when it came to comfort. "Good luck with that."

"Would you like some wine?" Two glasses of red wine materialize on a nearby table.

"No, thanks. You know I don't drink alcohol."

The man shrugs. One of the glasses starts to hover, gently floating to his waiting hand. He takes a sip, still staring out the window, before sitting down, opposite of Null.

"You know, that man is very interested in you."

"Reinhardt?"

"Indeed. You should make a move, before he, like everyone else, comes before me."

Null sighs. "Honestly, I'm scared. You know I won't forgive myself if he dies."

The man takes another sip of his wine before setting it down. "I've made exceptions for you before. Reinhardt is no different."

He was right. A while back, Null begged him to allow the innocent people he killed by accident, due to collateral damage, to be able to live their life as it was supposed to before they were claimed by him. He made the exception, allowing the innocent souls of the fallen to live a simulation in the split second before they head to the Underworld.

"You're not going to grant him immortality, are you?"

He muses for a moment, contemplating, before laughing quietly. "I am not cruel, Null. You, of all people, would know that."

"Then, what?"

The man summons a scroll, peering into it in the dim light. "He is an old, valiant soul, and his life will come to a close soon. I am willing to delay his natural death, if you so wish for me to do so. But only if you make a move. I want to see you with another, for once."

"Damn it. You know I won't turn that down."

The man smiles and puts out his hand, waiting for a handshake to seal the deal.

"What about Pravus?"

"Let us burn that bridge when we come to it."

Null hated his vagueness. He knew he only did it to infuriate him.

He takes it the hand, firmly shaking it once, twice for good measure. "Deal."

Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew he was making a literal deal with the devil, but they were good friends. Neither of them had ill intentions towards the other.

The scroll quickly burns away, the smell of burning paper hanging in the air for a few moments.

The man gets up and heads to the door, his actions smooth and elegant. He opens it, and Null walks through it, into a large hallway.

"So, where did we leave off?" The man says as they walk alongside each other. "Ah, yes. Caroline."

"Yeah, what happens to Caroline? I understand I can always boot her up, but does she arrive here whenever she shuts down?"

"I'm afraid I can't answer that. A great deal of souls pass by the Gates every hour, and I cannot be there to see all of them. Maintaining my position as one of the Absolutes is very tedious, and nearly requires my full attention."

"On the topic of Absolutes, has Pravus visited you?"

"He understands that I am not to be trifled with. That is the point of carrying the title of one of the Absolutes."

"Hmm."

They stop at a large window, able to see the Underworld in all of its entirety.

"Isn't it grand?"

"Reminds me of… ah… what was that game called? Minecraft? Yes, god, that was so long ago."

The view was spectacular. They were standing in some sort of corridor that peeked into the landscape. Below them was a drop into an ocean of lava, steep enough for Null to get a little nervous, and he edged just a little bit away from the glass. The Underworld itself was unimaginably large, a perpetual dark red sky with huge, towering spires everywhere. Souls, whose glow depended on their actions in life, littered the landscape, some clinging to the sides of spires, sometimes creating alliances with others and defending their territory.

"I forgot to ask you the last time I was here, but doesn't the Underworld ever get full? Like, with the constantly rising population and stuff?"

"Not exactly. The Underworld is an infinite expanse, constantly shifting, growing, _evolving._ See those bumps over in the distance?" He points to something that looked like a pimple on the landscape in the distance. "That wasn't there the last time you were here. Even then, most souls will disappear over time. Their memories of their life with the living eventually fade, and they lose everything that anchors them to this place-their morals, identity, hell, some even forget how to _exist._ At least, that's how it's supposed to work. I'm not sure what's going on, but there's this feeling like I'm missing souls. That there's not enough. I can't come to a concrete conclusion right now, but I suspect that something dangerous is at play here. That something is defiant enough to meddle in _my_ affairs, and, honestly, I'm scared. Nothing I know of even _dares_ to steal a soul from me, much less _billions._ "

"The world's changing, Mortuus. We desperately need to replace the Gods. They're too old, the power has saturated their minds, their egos."

"I wish the Absolutes had a say in the Council," Mortuus says sadly.

"Won't matter. They're all corrupted."

The man stops abruptly.

"You think?"

Null looks at him straight in the eye. He knew he could trust this man with any wild speculation. "They're clearly all drunk off their asses, so saturated in their power they completely forgot their jobs."

"How?"

"They _abandoned_ us! When we needed them the most, they simply just sat there, watched us get slaughtered. Watched the art fade into nothing more than a legend, into nothing more than the nonsensical ramblings of patients in mental asylums!"

He falls quiet, letting Null continue.

"Have you felt it lately?"

"Felt what?"

"The… dissonance in the aura. There's something… something restless stirring in the depths."

Mortuus doesn't reply. He simply stares at him.

"You appear to be fading," he finally says.

"Huh? I just got here..."

"Something must be causing this premature rebirth."

"Are you going to stop it?"

"No. I want to see what happens. Being the God of death is more boring than you can imagine. This may be the most interesting thing I've witnessed in centuries."

"Goodbye, Null."

"Goodbye."

* * *

 

He's suddenly aware of the waves of heat rolling into his side, and the texture of warm fabric on his skin. His entire body felt cold and clammy, but it felt _real,_  unlike the state of limbo he enters whenever he dies. Good, that means he's alive, and his senses are returning.

Part of his face was definitely on something warm. Something… moving.

He opens his eyes a crack, instantly shutting them again. It was too bright, too painful to see. He tries again, repeatedly opening his eyes tentatively until they adjusted to the light. He turns his head and looks up to find a blurry figure towering over him.

"Reinhardt?" He manages, his voice weak and raspy. It was painful to speak.

The man jolts awake, flicking his eyes at Null.

It turns out Null was laying in his lap, and Reinhardt cradled Null's head in his arms, but Null didn't mind, though. He could smell Reinhardt's scent like this, masculine and heady, and his body was nice and warm too, a welcome feeling to Null's cold body. As Null's vision sharpens, Reinhardt's lips start to move, but he could barely make out any distinct noises.

"Where… are we?" Null's ears slowly start to work again, the sound of the howling wind outside beginning to bombard his ears.

"-in Manhattan, Null. This blizzard has trapped us here."

"Huh?" His head swam with every tiny thought, the minuscule strain too much for him.

"Here. Drink."

Reinhardt gently brings a flask of water to his lips. Null drinks greedily, suddenly aware of his thirst.

"Wait, where are the others?" He asks, pushing the flask away and wiping his mouth.

"Angela went out to look for the others."

"What about you?"

"I wanted to make sure you were okay."

Null's eyes widen, instantly snapping out of his daze. "No!"

Reinhardt seemed hurt at the sudden exclamation. Null squirms out of his arms, trying his best to not fall down as he stands up.

"Why? Do you not like me?"

"You should be keeping Ziegler safe!"

"But-" his voice started to crack a little. "But you were dead when we found you! Angela resurrected you, an-"

"You should've left me dead," Null interrupts, his tone icy and slick with anger and malice.

Reinhardt falls silent, the tears forming in his eyes glistening from the fire from his armor's reactor. Null immediately realizes what he's done, regret flooding through him.

"I… I'm sorry," he sighs, sitting back down next to Reinhardt and burying his face in his hands. "God, I don't know what got into me. Reinhardt, I'm immortal. There's no point in resurrecting me." The words felt weird coming out of his mouth, almost revolting. Null wanted to run, to hide, to never have to even _look_ at Reinhardt again.

"What?"

Null sighs. "There's more to me than you think, and I think it's time I confided this with someone else, before I go around lashing out to more people like that."

Null stares at the reactor. It was warm, bright, and inviting, giving off a tiny hum as it burned.

"Promise me you won't tell anyone."

"Ich verspreche," Reinhardt replies solemnly.

Null taps his knee with a finger, thinking. "I guess we could start at the beginning." He takes a deep breath, recalling memories from so long ago, memories he wished he didn't have.

"I was born a long, long time ago, into a rich family, my father one of the many nobles. I was given the name Ardor, Ardor Null." Hearing his first name fall out of his mouth for the first time in centuries felt weird, his mouth unaccustomed to forming that sound, ears unfamiliar with processing the word.

"I don't remember much about my parents. My father… he murdered my mother, and my older siblings with I was three. I ran away that night, and every night, I still hate myself for not doing anything." It was Null's turn to cry now, tears eking out of his eyes. Reinhardt puts an arm around Null, and he doesn't push it away.

"I was special, to say the least. My family was part of a powerful line of thaumaturges, and I had a knack for channeling vis particularly well. I still remember the Golden Age of the art. Many were thaumaturges, and we had so much respect, until that one forsaken night. The Queen had given birth to a mundane, someone who couldn't practice thaumaturgy. It was tradition for the rulers to both be thaumaturges, and giving birth to a mundane would result in instant death of the infant. But no. The King loved him too much, and he raised him anyways. The years passed, and I fought for my life everyday until I found refuge in a Guild- Guild Spera.

"They welcomed me in, trained me in the art. I was one of their star pupils, quickly climbing the ranks. I met a girl there, Penelope. We were seen as equals, and when we turned 20, the Guild wanted the two of us to be their leaders, their protectors, being the two most powerful thaumaturges the Guild has seen in years. Life was wonderful; the mundane paid the Guild a great deal of money to cure their ailments, to reassemble their houses, hell, even to make love potions for them. We were seen as angels, beings that came from heaven to help the mundane, but, of course, they knew nothing about thaumaturgy."

Null pauses for a minute, reaching for the flask of water.

"It didn't last forever. The King died of old age, and the Prince was given the crown. He was paranoid, and he made it his life's mission to eradicate all thaumaturges, fearing we might turn on the crown. We didn't resist, and god, we should've. Anyone suspected of being a thaumaturge was brought before him, and we never saw them again. Rumors went around that you could hear bloodcurdling screams from the dungeons at night, pleads of mercy, and worse. We knew our fellow thaumaturges were being tortured, but we still refused to resist. I don't know why, but we wanted to prove to the Prince that we were peaceful, that we would never turn against the crown.

"The Guild went underground. Any thaumaturgic activity was deemed illegal, and would result in instant execution. I defended the Guild with Penelope, stopping any guards who suspected the members. We were the few that refused to remain peaceful, and the Guild resented us for it. They hated us, wanted to exile us, but they knew they needed us, so they reluctantly let us do our thing. Then I fell ill. It was known as the Inficio flu, a deadly disease that corrupted thaumaturges. If you didn't purge yourself of the flu at once, it would turn you into a monster, consuming you completely. Needless to say, I was desperate for a cure. I _had_ to protect the Guild. At this point, it was mostly thaumaturges seeking asylum, young and elderly thaumaturges who fled to us for protection from the Prince; there's no way they could defend themselves from the Prince's wrath. I found someone who was willing to sell me his last vial of purus essentia, the only known cure for the flu.

"Obviously, I jumped for the offer, and it turned out to be poison; the man was working for the Prince. When I died, Ordo appeared before me, offering me a chance to be the successor of his power, and a second chance at life. Of course, I accepted. I wanted to return to the Guild, to make sure our members were safe. It didn't turn out that way. Instead, I ended up being rendered practically immortal, able to die but reborn in a new body soon after. I gained access to Ordo's power, but this simply drew the attention of a few malevolent forces: Pravus, and the Eldritch.

"Pravus is the 'god' of corruption. From what I believe, he wants me to become a vessel of taint, spreading it throughout the world and allowing it to consume Earth. As for the Eldritch… it's a mystery. They're a mysterious and ancient race. They have infinite patience, and even now, I can't tell what they want from me. Their influence is so subtle, and it's getting harder for me to tell Pravus' handiwork apart from the Eldritch."

Null pauses for a minute, letting Reinhardt take it all in.

"Have you noticed how I don't sleep? There's this thing called the Voices, a phenomenon that affects us thaumaturges. Around the age of 10, you begin to hear them. At first, they're subtle, a slight annoyance, sometimes whispering secrets to you. As you get older, they become even more powerful, and if left unchecked, nearly all thaumaturges commit suicide. They whisper to you dark secrets, forbidden magic, and the knowledge is so unbearable it forces you to kill yourself. There's a technique that everyone learns that creates this aura, but only works while you're awake. When you're asleep, the aura is weaker, allowing them to creep in, causing nightmares, or worst, driving you insane, to the point where you stop breathing in your sleep. The only way to combat this now is to sleep with someone else, a partner. The combined power of the weakened auras is enough to keep them away. Even the mundane emit a slight aura."

"So why do you not sleep with someone else?" Reinhardt had a pretty good feeling he knew what was going to happen next.

Null scoffs. "I wish. Pravus and the Eldritch are playing a slow, very drawn out war of attrition, one that I can't win. They know I won't forgive myself if I let someone die, and they deliberately target anyone they think I'm close with. If I had a partner, he'll probably be dead in a week."

He looks at Reinhardt. "I'm tired, Reinhardt. Tired of living. I just want to sleep, to rest, to never wake up again. At this point, the Voices whisper to me regardless of whether I'm awake or not."

Null leans on Reinhardt's chest, the man responding by moving his hand up and down, slowly rubbing Null's side.

"Wilhelm."

"Huh?"

"My last name is Wilhelm. You told me your first name, I think it is fitting I told you my last."

"Wilhelm… " his eyes widen in realization. "I think you might be the King's descendant."

Reinhardt's eyes widen in horror. "I… "

Null smiles weakly, bringing a hand to Reinhardt's face, tentatively cupping his cheek. Reinhardt didn't pull back.

"Don't worry. It was the Prince that was paranoid." He rubs Reinhardt's face with his thumb, tracing the scar on his left eye. "King Wilhelm was a kind, gentle soul. He lived by the Knight's code, and everybody loved him."

Reinhardt's eyes close, the man purring softly as he rubbed his face, feeling the soft hairs of his beard comb through his fingers. "I am willing to take the risk."

"You know I won't forgive myself if you die, right?"

Reinhardt's eyes open slowly, looking into Null's. Reinhardt's left eye was impossibly white, like a fragile crystal made of milk, softly gleaming in the light. His right was an electric blue, the light from the reactor making it glisten like polished sapphire. It was a beautiful shade of blue, one that Null had never fully appreciated until now. He had tried to avoid looking at the man, afraid Reinhardt might be weirded out by his ogling.

"Yes."

The arm Reinhardt had on Null tightened, another arm pulling his head closer to Reinhardt's. Null's lips meet Reinhardt's, Null eagerly bringing his arms around Reinhardt's neck, combing his fingers through his hair. The larger man led the charge, nudging his tongue into Null's mouth and exploring it a little.

Null moans softly into the kiss, his heart beating faster and faster. It was only a few brief seconds, but it felt like an eternity to Null.

They break, a strand of saliva connecting their mouths, quickly banished when Reinhardt swipes at it with a thumb.

"You are trembling," Reinhardt says softly, still holding Null tightly.

"Yeah," Null says breathing heavily, his face red and awfully hot. "I am."

"Do you eat enough? You are very lightweight."

"I do now, I guess," Null replies, a little surprised at the question. "I couldn't afford much in terms of food before I joined Overwatch."

He could feel his entire body shake with excitement, his head spinning to the point where Null was afraid he might black out. He tries to calm down, nuzzling into one of Reinhardt's pecs, inhaling the faint, but pleasant smell of his sweat and cologne.

He takes this time to look around, and they were in some sort of tunnel of asphalt. There was harsh, white light that peeked in around a corner, the sound of howling wind coming from there too, echoing a little due to the shape of the tunnel. The ground and walls themselves were made of rough asphalt, chunks of frozen tar lying everywhere as well. They were sitting on a beat up metal beam, Reinhardt's armor laying on the ground, reactor side facing up.

"What do you think happened out there?"

"I am not sure… it is possible Mei's robot caused this. This tunnel was created by the Omnic in the corner."

Null peers into the corner Reinhardt looked at, barely able to make out a humanoid shape in the darkness.

"Could you help drag it into the light for me?"

Reinhardt lets go of him, Null shocked at how cold he felt when the arms are lifted off of him. Reinhardt grunted a little as he did most of the work dragging the dead Omnic into the reactor's light.

Null digs into his pouch, taking out various tools and dissecting the robot with them. It wasn't anything particularly interesting, just a bunch of cables, sensors, computing processors, just things you'd expect to find in an Omnic, but neither of them had ever actually gotten into one, so it was quite a fascinating experience for the both of them.

With the both of them huddling over the Omnic, Null suddenly jerks his head up. "Do you feel that?"

"Feel what?"

"It's like… a pulse."

Reinhardt gives him a weird look, shaking his head. Null pokes deeper, his eyes quickly darting around. Eventually, he's rewarded for his actions, scooping out a tiny fragment of something from the heart of the Omnic.

"Holy..."

"What is it?"

Null digs into his pouch, taking out a tome that was clearly larger than the pouch itself. He notices Reinhardt's confusion, smiling a little. "You look so adorable when you're confused. It's a bottomless pouch."

He quickly flips through pages, the both of them coughing a little at the dust that flew up from the tome.

"The legends are true," Null says, looking back and forth between the fragment and his book. "Here."

Reinhardt looks at the page Null pointed at. Apart from a sketch of a marble looking object, he couldn't understand much.

"Es tut mir leid, I can not understand any of this."

"Yeah, it's all in thaumaturgic prose. This is the Primordial Pearl, a relic that I didn't even believe existed until now."

"What does it do?"

"It contains an _unfathomable_ amount of power. According to legend, the Eldritch protect it. Sadly, I can't use this. This is just an imitation of the real thing, a heavily infused crystal, but it shows that something this powerful _is_ possible. Pravus must be behind these new Omnics."

"What are you going to do?"

Null turns to face Reinhardt, briefly staring into his eyes. "I don't know," he sighs, looking back at the dissected robot. "I can't do much."

"Are you not… ah… a thaum-ah-turge?"

"I can't use magic. A while ago, the Council decided that I was too dangerous and put me under heavy surveillance. They confiscated nearly all my equipment, all because Pravus managed to corrupt them with his influence. I was terrified during my Trial because I wasn't sure if my little 'trick' was enough to go over the threshold and alert them. If I ever do, I'm basically declaring war against them." Null puts the fragment into his pouch. "But it doesn't seem like they noticed, so maybe the rune is wearing off. Let's put that to the test."

He takes out a wooden staff made of some sort of dark wood, with golden caps on the ends.

"Want to put your armor back on?"

Unsure why he'd need to do that, Reinhardt glances at the pile of metal, before looking back at Null.

"No," he murmurs, closing the gap between them and wrapping an arm around him.

"Alright then." Perfect chance for him to try something out. He mutters something under his breath, and Reinhardt's crusader armor seems to get sucked into a point in space, creating a strange vacuuming noise. Reinhardt stares at the spot, Null smiling at his confused look. He leans in for a quick kiss, rubbing Reinhardt's cheek.

"Damn, I can't get over how cute you are like this. Your armor's safe," he chuckles. "Just some temporary storage."

Being as the armor's reactor was their only source of light, Null mutters something again, and his wand starts to shine, filling the dark tunnel with warm light, light that feels more like sunshine than anything. The two of them bask in the gentle glow for a moment, a fleeting feeling of genuine happiness sprouting in Null's chest for the first time.

"C'mon. Let's go."

"Outside?"

"Yeah. You sure you don't want your armor?"

"I would like it back, now that you mention it."

Null summons his armor again, making a quiet _bang_ as it popped back into existence. After suiting up, Reinhardt still tries to protest, to wait until Ziegler or someone else came back, but Null was insistent.

They walk to the entrance of the tunnel, Reinhardt trying his best to shield Null from the elements with his massive body.

He's about to open his mouth to protest once more when a sudden wave of heat washes over him. He lets go of Null, staring incredulously at him.

"Well, I'm not dead yet, so maybe the rune _did_ wear off. Let's go."

They carefully trek through the blizzard, the falling snow so thick their field of vision reduced to a little over a meter in front of them. Reinhardt stayed close to Null, who seemed to be in a daze, his eyes out of focus. He was incessantly muttering under his breath, and Reinhardt was too scared to ask at this point. The muttering _did_ seem to do something, though. They seemed to be in some sort of heated, protective sphere, shielded from the elements, and any falling snow that entered seemed to disappear. Snow that was already on the ground around them melted at they moved.

Null suddenly pulls out Xenon from his pouch, shooting once to the right and hitting some metal.

He stops his chanting. "I'm sorry if I'm scaring you. It's been so long since I've felt this kind of power, and it feels _sooo good_ to finally use it. And this is just the beginning; I'm only just rediscovering what I _can_ do."

"What did you shoot?"

"Omnic. I can't seem to find Ziegler, or the others, but something robotic is definitely causing the blizzard, and we're not too far from the eye of the storm." He turns to Reinhardt, a fierce determination he hasn't experienced in centuries in his eyes. "Let's shut that thing down."

Null sprints with surprising speed, and Reinhardt charges after him, careful to not hit him or the debris that was scattered around. The snow had just started to pile up, making a layer about one centimeter thick. The ground had finally chilled to the point where it didn't melt the stuff upon contact.

"Down here!" Null calls, and Reinhardt moves back into his aura of warmth, quietly basking in it.

He suddenly grimaces. "Argh… my sides…"

Worry flashes across Null's face. "It's just a few more streets ahead. Can you handle that?"

"I will try."

His face constricts with concern, wanting to help Reinhardt, but not able to in these conditions. "Okay. Let's take it nice and slow…"

He helps Reinhardt trudge through the snow, using a bit of magic to make his movements easier.

"Agh!" Reinhardt utters, staggering forward before falling onto one knee. "I… cannot go on…"

Null curses under his breath, glancing behind him.

"Go…" Reinhardt manages, before blacking out. It was maddening to know that Reinhardt could be dead now, but Null had to shut down whatever machine was causing this damn storm. Then he could focus on fixing Reinhardt.

He runs into the eye, finding Mei's robot hovering in the center and a silhouetted figure standing in the distance, just shy of the eye of the storm.

"Hello, Null!" the figure shouts over the wind.

"Pravus?!" Null shouts back, partly in disbelief, partly so he could hear him.

"Took you long enough to realize!"

Pravus steps into the eye as well, his features becoming more defined by the second. He wore robes as well, and although they were that shade of dark purple he was so obsessed with, Null could tell they were made from ichorcloth.

He looked disgustingly casual- hands in his pockets, a simple cocky strut as he moved towards Null. That fucking smug grin that he seemed to always wear. Everything about Pravus made Null want to erase him from existence, but of course, he couldn't.

"Isn't this nice?" Pravus asks, putting his arms up and gesturing to the blizzard that roared around them. "Oh, don't worry. Your little friend is safe for now. Can't do much in this dimension, can I?"

He couldn't tell if he was lying or not. If Pravus could do this much to Reinhardt, he might be able to kill him as well. "What do you want from me?" Null asks, his tone low and threatening. He tightened his grip around his staff, but he knew fighting him here and now would be pointless. It was probably just a hologram of him, or some sort light manipulation at work here.

"Simple. Surrender to the taint, and I'll spare your friend's life." Pravus smiles. "I think it's quite a fair offer."

He knew opened a Pandora's box when he put his hand on Reinhardt's face for the first time. He knew this would happen. But he didn't care, did he? No, he let his _feelings_ get to him. And now Reinhardt could be dead for all he knew. Goddamn it, this was the whole reason he tried to bury these fucking feelings and made sure they never saw the light of day. He got so good at that, in fact, most people in past lives simply thought he just wasn't interested in a relationship, or sex, for that matter.

Null stares at his staff, the machine whirring softly as it worked its magic on the atmosphere. He had to make a decision soon. Who knew how many people were trapped in the blizzard, desperately trying to claw their way out? Holding on until it stopped snowing? Until someone rescued them? If he didn't make a decision soon, all of Manhattan would surely freeze over.

Null looks up, into Pravus' irritatingly patient, dark purple eyes.

 _"Never,"_ he spits out, sending a bolt of energy flying towards the machine, easily shattering it. Pravus disappeared with the death of the robot, and the blizzard instantly ceased. The wind was gone, the air starting to warm up, and the clouds were already beginning to clear up, the sun feebly peeking through a little through the dark sky. It was something straight from a fairy tale; the hero had just banished evil, and now everything is returning to normalcy. Null wished things could be like that.

Reinhardt makes a soft grunt in his sleep. Hopefully, he wasn't in pain in this state.

Carefully taking off his helmet, Reinhardt looked peaceful, vulnerable, even, the scar on his eye a little larger when completely relaxed. Null takes a seat next to him, ignoring the snow there and putting Reinhardt's head in his lap, mindlessly stroking through the man's hair. The faint hum of hovercrafts grew louder around him. They would rescue them soon.

Null looks back down at Reinhardt again, tracing the scar with his thumb once more. His skin was surprisingly smooth for a man his age; it was incredible how far anti-aging technology has come since the last time he was alive.

It broke his heart to know that Reinhardt was hurt, and even worse, it was _his_ fault. He shouldn't have pushed Reinhardt, much less lead him to Pravus.

He couldn't let this happen again. Null silently swore that protecting Reinhardt would be the last thing he did.

A voice in his head said otherwise, but he ignored it. Just a harmless stray thought, right?


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not sure if anything needs to be translated in this chapter! Enjoy! Hopefully I didn't screw up somewhere...

_Tick. Tock._

They wouldn't let him into the infirmary.

For whatever reason, they thought _Null_ had put Reinhardt into a coma, and he was put on indefinite room arrest, until they determined his punishment. Upper management confiscated his pouch, but at least they couldn't figure out how to use it. Probably.

_Tick. Tock._

He stares at his feet, listening to the hypnotic ticking of the clock on the wall.

Mechanical clocks were completely outdated in this age, but it was still surprisingly difficult to get his hands on one. It was understandable that these clocks would stop being manufactured, but surely he isn't the _only_ person to enjoy the constant, monotonous ticking. Surely some craftsmen still made them, right?

He sighs, picking up the comm he managed to smuggle into his room. He turns it in his hand, wondering if he should use it.

Shrugging, he punches in Tracer's identification number, opening up a channel between them.

"Tracer?"

He hears the sound of metal clattering on the ground.

"Oh! Null! Haha, didn't expect you there!"

"Is everything alright?"

"Yeah! Just dropped my comm, that's all! Is there anything you need? Some tacos delivered to you?"

Fuck. It's Taco Tuesday, isn't it? This is probably his only chance to get some, but he had a job to do.

"As much as I'd love one, I need you to tell me something."

"What?"

"How's Reinhardt doing?"

Tracer gasps. "Okay, I'm not supposed to ask, but what exactly _did_ you do to him?" She asks, her voice suddenly low and hushed. It was weird, listening to her serious voice, devoid of her usual jubilance. It was like she _demanded_ the information.

"Nothing, Tracer. I swear on my life!"

She sighs. "I believe you. The others are paranoid, though." She pauses, taking a moment to figure out how to word the news properly. "Reinhardt… err… he's not doing so well. He isn't waking up, but that's all I know. Mercy and the other medical staff won't tell anything else to us."

Not a good sign.

"Okay, thanks. I'll see you later… hopefully."

He closes the channel. Hopefully, no one had tapped into it.

Null loaks around his sparsely furnished room, a sense of hopelessness starting to creep up on him. He hadn't gotten the time to pick out what he wanted, and frankly, he didn't know what he wanted his room to be like. He had never done anything close to this before; he had always lived wherever he could, from abandoned apartments to even _caves._ He never had the luxury to actually choose what his living quarters looked like.

He glances at the door, the little screen next to it filled with a solid red, an indication that it was in lockdown mode.

Null runs his fingers along his staff, the dark wood smooth and the golden caps cool to the touch. He thinks about it for a moment, then hops off his bed, stepping up to the door.

He had let down enough people before. He had let them suffer, let them die, but he was _not_ going to add Reinhardt to that list.

He draws a circle on the door using his staff, quietly opening up a hole that he could walk through. Climbing out the hole before sealing it, Null carefully sneaks his way around the facility, making sure not to make any noise.

He turns right at a three-way intersection, instantly snapping back to where he was and crouching behind a conveniently placed plant. Zenyatta and Genji were around the corner, and they didn't seem to notice him. Yet.

"What do you think he did to Reinhardt?" Genji says, his accent making him accentuate certain syllables.

"I believe Null may have affected Reinhardt's standing with the Iris."

They come into Null's view. Genji looked down the hallway Null was in, starting at a spot on the floor, past Null, while Zenyatta was more focused on his orbs. Null tenses, and he tries to keep his breathing calm despite his quickening heartbeat.

"Really?"

They stop moving, and Null's palms begin to become slick with sweat, making him start to lose his grip on his staff. After what seemed to be an eternity, they continue walking.

"That would explain…"

Genji's voice trails off, and Null turns around the corner once more, relieved that he didn't meet any more people on the way. He wasn't sure if he could handle another encounter like that.

Null stares at the door, studying the cross painted on the metal. He knew he shouldn't just burst in there like this, but he had no other choice. Without his intervention, Reinhardt would surely stay in his comatose state.

 **_"HEY!"_ ** A loud, authoritative voice suddenly reverberates through the halls, startling Null.

Shit. _Why_ did he stop at the door? Obviously someone would've noticed that his room was empty soon after he left.

Null slams one end of his staff at the door, instantly shattering the metal and creating a temporary hole. The metal fragments slowly moved through the air, like it was thick gel. He clambers into the hole, the guard's footsteps getting louder rapidly, and quickly seals it, every fragment returning to their original place with a satisfying _click_. Null jabs at the lock next to the door, breaking the screen. Hopefully, that's enough to stall the guard long enough.

"What are you doing here?"

Null turns around, a sense of dread flooding through his body. Dr. Ziegler stood over a cot, a tablet in her hands. She stared at him, slowly reaching for her caduceus blaster with a free hand.

"I just…" he starts. His shoulders slump, and his grip on his staff loosens. "I just wanted to see Reinhardt."

"Why?"

"I did _not_ do this to him."

"Then who did?"

Null sighs, his heart heavy in his chest. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Try me."

"The god of corruption."

She gives him a weird look, almost as if she was concerned for his sanity.

"Fine. _One_ minute," she smirks, rolling her eyes.

He walks over to the cot, dreading what he would see.

The first thing he noticed was how pale he was; it was even worse than he had originally thought, and he looked nearly as white as the sheets.

Reinhardt himself was covered in some sheets, and he couldn't see anything else but his face and arms.

He tentatively cups his cheek with a hand, careful to not touch the oxygen mask on Reinhardt's mouth, and Ziegler didn't say anything.

His voice came out surprisingly cracked, tears forming uncontrollably in his eyes.

"I'm sorry Reinhardt... this is all my fault. I just _had_ to go and let my feelings get to me, and look at where we are. The exact thing I tried to avoid by burying them."

He takes one of his hands. It was cool to the touch, the faintest hint of a pulse beneath the skin.

He could feel Ziegler stare at him, her gaze unrelenting. How much time did he have left?

Null lightly slides an arm over Reinhardt's body, feeling the solid muscle underneath the blanket.

A second pulse.

He definitely felt it, there was no denying its existence. Concentrating and screwing up his eyes, Null could see Reinhardt bathing in a faint purple glow, a telltale sign of a seed of taint.

He couldn't tell her- she'd never believe him.

"You're minute's up."

Ignoring her, he plants a quick kiss on Reinhardt's forehead, squeezing his hand even harder.

"Just come back to me. Please," he whispers in his ear, the thought of Reinhardt being dead, no matter what he did, ripping apart his very sanity.

And with that, Null feels himself get wrestled away by two guards, both of them clearly much stronger than him.

"Wait!"

He squirms out of their hold, dropping to the floor on his hands and knees.

"One last thing- can you leave this beside Reinhardt?"

He pulls out a flower that was just beginning to bloom, handing it to Ziegler. She gives him another weird look, then nods in approval before he's manhandled away. They bring him down a few hallways, before taking an unexpected turn. At this point, it was clear they weren't bringing him back to his room, and it was for the better if he didn't say anything.

He's thrown into a solitary confinement cell, his pouch and staff both confiscated. He curls up on the cardboard-like mattress, still thinking about Reinhardt.

* * *

 

Hours pass, and Null has never masturbated this much in his life before. He ached for Reinhardt's company, and with no cameras in the room, he couldn't help himself, giving in to his sudden craving for release. He felt disgusted, yet somewhat relieved that he could use some simple cleansing spells to dispose of his seed. He's laying on the mattress, staring at the ceiling when he hears the door slide open.

"Get up."

He slowly pushes himself up, and this time the guard is much gentler with him.

He's led back to the infirmary, Dr. Ziegler still standing at Reinhardt's cot, his flower nearly in full bloom. Ziegler was furiously tapping away at her tablet, her body slumped in a way that clearly expressed her fatigue.

"He stirred earlier, incessantly mumbling 'he's innocent' for a minute." She turns around. "I assume he means you."

"I know how to help him."

"I sure hope you do. I've never seen anything like this before."

Their eyes lock, and Null could see the fatigue she had accumulated in her eyes, the endless hours poured into trying to wake Reinhardt up. At this point, she had given up all hope, and she was more or less desperate for a reprieve.

Null is handed back his staff and pouch, and a sense of importance fills his chest as he steps up to Reinhardt.

"That's because he's not physically injured. It's his very _soul._ "

At this point, Ziegler knew better than to argue with him, and with a scoff, she leaves the infirmary, leaving Null alone with Reinhardt.

He glances at his flower; it was just about to bloom. He could see hints of white inside the blue-green bud, and if he didn't work fast, he might miss his chance.

Null stood there for a minute, wondering what was the best course of action. He had two options: burn the taint off with some _purus ignis_ , or leech the taint out of Reinhardt and into himself. He was hesitant to burn the offending substance out, because it would be painful to the point where it would probably kill Reinhardt, but leeching it out would be wonderfully dangerous for him as well.

He glances at the flower again- an ethereal bloom. Highly prized for its many properties, the primary one being its ability to destroy nearby taint. It was just about to unfurl its petals, and he had to make a decision _now._

Cursing under his breath, he peels back the blanket Reinhardt was covered in, exposing his skin to the soft glow of the lights. As he ran his hand along Reinhardt's scarred body, his body hair tickling his fingers, a strange lust grips him, temporarily freezing him in place, his mouth suddenly filled with saliva. He fought for control of his body, fought to not just throw himself at the slab of muscle that lay before him.

A sense of serenity washes over him- the flower had blossomed. Cursing under his breath, Null plunges a hand into Reinhardt's chest, the hand going _through_ his flesh. His hand hits something solid, slick, and warm, and he grasps it, ripping it out and, in the heat of the moment, Null throws it at the ground.

That was a mistake.

The seedling of taint, which looked like a small head of purple cabbage for a moment, unfurled into into some sort of purple, arachnid-like creature. It hissed at the ethereal bloom's purifying glow, backing away into the darker corners of the infirmary. It was the time of day where it wasn't necessary to turn on the lights, but it was dark enough to make it difficult to see, a bad mix when trying to pinpoint the damn thing.

It scuttled around the room, the only indication of its location being a faint tapping noise as it evaded his gaze.

He grabs his staff, the tip instantly flooding the room with a harsh, bright light. The creature hissed loudly, leaping at Null. Before he could react, the thing latches on, then dissolves under his skin, causing him to freak out. He fumbles in his pouch, pulling out a vial of purus ignis and smashing it on the ground.

Pain. Pain is all he knows as the impossibly white flames engulf him, feeding off the taint in him. He knew putting infused ignis on him would be incredibly painful, but he hadn't expected it to be _this_ extreme. He tries to scream, but no sound came out.

He hears a screeching, but it sounded weird. It sounded hollow, yet muted. Like it came from his head.

Null manages to hoist himself up to the table beside Reinhardt's cot with his elbows, the magic of the ethereal bloom trying to ease his suffering. Why hadn't the ignis died out yet? It burns through taint incredibly quick, one of the better known qualities of the stuff.

Whatever the case, Null blacks out from a combination of the taint and the pain, the last thing he sees being the ethereal at full blossom, in all its beauty.

* * *

 

When he comes around, it looks like he's back in Reinhardt's armor, but he wasn't in the training arena.

An explosion startles him. Null looks up, and it looks like the very sky is on fire. What the hell is going on?

"What are you doing, Wilhelm?!" A voice suddenly resonates inside the helmet. He's vaguely aware of the yelling, but somewhere in the back of his mind, he realizes it's all in German, and he can somehow understand it all perfectly. "Get off your ass! We've got some Omnics to destroy!"

Almost as if his limbs were floating, he starts to trudge forward, out of the town he was in and into some sort of plain. That's funny, Null doesn't remember commanding his limbs to move…

Something explodes near him, and he instinctively deploys some sort of barrier in front of him, and some shrapnel crashes into it, the barrier absorbing any damage.

He continues forward, now completely out in the plain, and it was quite the grand sight. There were dozens of other suits of armor just like his, all fighting the endless horde of Omnics that seemed to come from the forest on the other side.

He charges in, but Null is certain he didn't do it on purpose; something is definitely controlling his movements. He swings the hammer once, twice, destroying about three Omnics in a sweeping arc around him, quickly bringing up his barrier.

The comm in his helmet was assaulting his ears with a stream of noise, noise that Null couldn't quite focus on. This was like a memory- everything had a hazy quality to it, and he was definitely not controlling his movements. But he doesn't remember any of this; could this be someone else's memory?

Then the epiphany hits him. Whoever was on the other side of the comms had called him Wilhelm; this must be one of Reinhardt's memories. Why did it take him so long to realize?

It's suddenly suffocating in the suit. As he swings away at more Omnics, he could feel himself starting to sway, and he suspects carbon monoxide to be the culprit.

Charging as far away from the battlefield as he could, Null takes off the helmet, gasping deeply for air. It was filled with the smell of fire, metal, and death, but every breath was practically orgasmic. It was like taking in huge gulps of the purest, most refreshing water the world had to offer.

The armor opens up, and Null collapses on the ground, his body shaking as he mustered himself into a standing position. He watched the forest burn, his fellow Crusaders get pushed back, some of them falling to the seemingly endless stream of bullets being buried into their armor.

He had broken free of the memory. It would be all over soon.

Null turns around and heads into one of the houses to get out of the disgusting air. The house wasn't that interesting, just filled with a bunch of clocks, but something else catches his interest- a tome lying on a table. That's funny, unless Reinhardt remembers this room, he would see nothing here.

It looked oddly similar to a thaumonomicon, just like his. But it couldn't possibly be part of the memory, right? The chances of him not being the only thaumaturge left was nearly zero. Null goes to pick it up, but it vanishes in his hands, leaving behind a page. He turns it upside down, and there's a single rune engraved on the page, with a poorly drawn figure seven accompanying it as well.

He couldn't read the rune- maybe it was one he hadn't learned of, although in his centuries of living, he had learned practically everything there was to thaumaturgy. As for the seven, he couldn't figure out what that meant too. Maybe he was just looking into the scribbles too much, that it just happened to resemble a figure seven.

Whatever the case, Null could feel something tug as his navel. Something was pulling him from the memory, and he gladly welcomed it.

\---

* * *

_"Null… Null… Null…"_

His eyes fluttered open, swimming from the depths of unconsciousness, a familiar figure lying next to him. It was like he was underwater; his vision was watery, and he felt like he was floating. He blinks a few times, and his senses gradually return.

"Looks like you're awake," he croaks.

"And you as well, mein maus."

"Huh?"

He chuckles for a moment, before playfully growling. "I am your lion," he nuzzles into Null's chest, "and you are my maus." He grins, proud of the nickname he gave to Null.

"Oh… okay," Null says with a perplexed look as Reinhardt wraps his arms around him. He was _not_ used to this kind of treatment.

He looks around and notices they are still in the infirmary, although in the same bed.

 _Shit,_ Null thought, _did this man really get a bed to accommodate the both of us?!_

"So… how do you feel?"

"What do you mean?"

"Do you remember anything? Like, after you collapsed?"

Reinhardt gazes at the ceiling for a moment, loosening his embrace.

"There was… something. Something evil," Reinhardt mutters gravely, before his eyes light up, but yet they were somehow dull simultaneously. "But I defeated it! Yes!" He beams at Null. "Your lion has defeated the evil!"

He beams at Null, but Null wasn't impressed. He scowled a little, in fact.

"Reinhardt. I know you are an honorable man, but this is thaumaturgy we're talking about." Null pauses, running a hand through Reinhardt's hair. "These forces that we're dealing with created nearly everything _as we know it_ . Tell me the truth, Reinhardt. _Please._ "

The spark in his good eye dies out. Shifting uncomfortably in the bed, he closes his eyes, recalling whatever he could in as much detail as possible.

"There was a man," he quietly murmurs.

"Yes?" Null wraps his arms around Reinhardt now, hoping to offer him some warmth, some comfort.

"He… he promised to do things to me. Painful things. He said he would torture me until the end of time if he wanted to."

Reinhardt chokes a little, and Null cups his cheek, rubbing his scar. He probably already went through some of the promised torture before Null ripped the taint out of him.

"Listen to me. I will never let that happen. Do you understand?"

Reinhardt opens his eyes, which were starting to brim with tears. He nods a little.

Null smashes his lips on Reinhardt's, passionately kissing him. He kissed Reinhardt hard, gave it his all, hoping that if he couldn't at least protect Reinhardt from Pravus, then he could at least give him all his love until his last breath.

They break, and for a minute, the room was silent, apart from the whirring machinery around them and their heavy breathing.

Null's stomach suddenly growls, puncturing the silence.

Reinhardt chuckles weakly. "Let's get something to eat, shall we?"

"Sounds good."

Reinhardt helps Null get out of bed, leading him to the cafeteria. They sit down at a table, alone, and Reinhardt leaves to get food for them. Null looks around, checking his phone but only finding some game notifications.

Reinhardt returns a few minutes later, and Null manages to catch Ana in the crowd of people. They locked eyes for a moment, before Ana turns away sheepishly and gets lost once more.

"What is wrong?"

"Oh… nothing." Null smiles reassuringly. He looks down at the plate he was given. "Is this currywurst?"

"Yes!" Reinhardt agrees enthusiastically. That man just loved the dish.

Null tentatively pokes the sausage with his fork, cutting a small portion off before sticking it into his mouth.

"Well? How is it?"

"It's…" he starts, noticing that Reinhardt had tensed up. "Not bad!" Null found that it wasn't very spicy, as the dish's name would imply, but he also loved spicy foods, to the point where he had built up a slight tolerance. Before long, he's wolfing them down, his hunger getting to the best of him.

He finishes his plate, wiping his mouth with a napkin. "Err... I'm going to go look for Ana. I'll meet up with you later."

Reinhardt nods, his mouth full of currywurst. "I will be in the lounge," he manages.

Null gets up and heads for the shooting range, having a feeling she was there. She was quietly shooting dummies in the distance, her eyebrows furrowed as she seemed to fire like she hated the targets with a passion.

"Hey," he says, folding his arms and leaning on a wall.

Ana doesn't respond immediately. She fires a few more before running out of darts, then turning to face Null. He opens his mouth to say something before Ana interrupts.

"Don't be sorry," she sighs sadly. "I knew Reinhardt had a thing for you." She looks away. "It was only a matter of time."

Null was surprised. "How long have you known?"

"Since I asked Reinhardt to the dance."

"Shit."

She chuckles silently. "I'm not angry at you."

"Then what's wrong?"

"Just blowing off some steam. My foolishness cost me my eye, the lives of others, and I refuse to forgive myself."

"You beat yourself up too, huh? Thought I was the only one."

"Hm."

"I know it's easier said than done, but you _have_ to move on."

She glances sideways at Null. "What about you?"

He smiles. "Don't worry about me."

She sighs, turning back to looking at the targets, quietly moving from left to right.

"I'll try."

"Atta girl. I'll be at the lounge if you need me."

She nods, before heading out of the shooting range through another hallway that Null didn't come from. Null makes his way to the lounge, where Reinhardt was, as promised.

Reinhardt greets him by immediately pulling him onto his lap as Null went to sit down next to him, gently rubbing his face on Null's.

"Gah! Reinhardt!" He whines.

"Mmm. Is something wrong, mein maus?"

"There are others!"

"Are you not comfortable with me publicly displaying my affection?"

"Not really…"

"Would you like to move somewhere a little more… private?" Reinhardt gives him an ever so lewd look, but Null doesn't notice.

"What do you have in mind?"

"My room?" he suggests mischievously.

Null looks at Reinhardt, giving him a stern look. He wanted to say no, but he managed to pull a puppy face on him, and he couldn't resist denying that face, so innocent looking yet tough because of the scar.

He sighs. "Sure."

Reinhardt beams, using his arms to scoop up and carry Null bridal style to his room.

"Really?!" He cries in protest. Reinhardt simply chuckles, and Null blushes as he sees Lucio and Mei smile at them as they go by. They finally get out of the lounge, Reinhardt planting a quick kiss on Null's forehead as they made their to the dormitory wing. He wanted to die from embarrassment, but Null had to admit, he liked this kind of attention. It was such a refreshing step from his usually lonely life.

Reinhardt hums a tune, probably the German national anthem, or maybe some Hasselhoff song, while Null curls up closer to his chest as he navigates the corridors. When they reach his room, Reinhardt unlocks the door, finally letting Null down and allowing him to look around.

It was surprisingly cozy in his room. Everything was made from wood, giving it that homey, warm feeling. Of course, it was more than just that- posters of wrestling stars that he didn't care about and Crusaders were hung up, probably to motivate him to keep training.

"What do you think, my maus?" Reinhardt growls in Null's ear, wrapping his arms around him.

Tiny shivers make their way down his spine, and he closed his eyes a little as he reveled in the warmth of Reinhardt's arms. "It's cozy, but personally I like a more modern approach."

"Hmm." Null could see a small glint of disappointment in Reinhardt's eye.

"Don't worry about it," Null chortles. Slinging his arms around Reinhardt's neck, he drags the both of them onto his bed, luxuriously soft and ludicrously huge to accommodate the man's _much_ larger frame.

Null gently nudges his mouth on Reinhardt's, his lips soft and tender. They kissed, and this time Null played with Reinhardt's tongue with his, almost fighting with it for territory in his mouth. They make out for a while, the both of them moaning softly while Reinhardt groped at Null's body with his large, muscular hands.

"I have wanted this for some time," Reinhardt growls in his ear as they break, his eyes glazed with lust. He slides a hand under Null's shirt, feeling him up and growling softly as he delicately nibbled at one of his earlobes, procuring a loud moan from Null. His face turns pink, and Reinhardt laughs.

"Do you like it when I growl?" he chuckles. "Do not worry, the walls are soundproof."

Reinhardt traces Null's jaw with his mouth, leaving small kisses here and there before moving onto his neck.

Null moans loudly as he sucks the skin there, his arms pinned to the bed by Reinhardt.

It felt amazing. Reinhardt dominated him, but was still gentle and tender. Somewhere in the back of his mind, a voice tells him to stop, but Null was too occupied by the sensation of Reinhardt sucking on his neck. It's when Reinhardt caresses his thigh and grinds his bulge on Null's that he comes to his senses.

"Ahh- Rein…" His breath hitches when Reinhardt reaches his collarbone. "Reinhardt!"

The man immediately stops, and his eyes snap open.

"Is something wrong, mein maus?"

"Don't you think this is a little too… fast?"

Stiffening his body, Reinhardt's face turns a shade of red, and he casts his eyes down in shame. "Yes, you are right. I am sorry."

He untangles himself from Null, fixing up his hair a little.

"It's alright. It's just… this is all new to me. Kinda want to take this a little slower." Null wraps his arms around Reinhardt, and Reinhardt reciprocates. They cuddle for a bit, listening to the sound of their heart beats as they reveled in each other's company.

"Do you mind?" Reinhardt asks, holding up a remote.

"Mm."

Reinhardt turns on the TV, tuning into some wrestling match. The lights mysteriously dim, and they watch some guy try to beat an Omnic, although the result was pretty clear cut, even at the start. Null yawns, stretching his arms a little after a round or two.

"Are you tired?"

"A little. But I like being with you."

Reinhardt doesn't reply for a minute, idly rubbing Null's side before mustering his courage.

"Will you stay the night?"

"Sure," he sighs contentedly, burying his head in Reinhardt's arms.

After the guy finally falls unconscious and the Omnic takes the victory, Reinhardt yawns loudly as well, getting up to use the bathroom. Null makes himself comfortable in his bed, and Reinhardt immediately takes him into his arms when he returns. He gives him a weird look when he realizes Reinhardt is in nothing but his boxers.

"I like to sleep without my shirt, if that is okay with you."

"Mm. I like to do the same."

Breaking away, Null strips to his boxers, before returning to the warmth of Reinhardt's arms, the skin to skin contact making it feel that much more intimate.

The lights turn off completely, and Null nuzzles into Reinhardt's chest, his white, somewhat thick chest hair tickling at his nose. He felt safe, protected from harm as he was swaddled by Reinhardt's muscles.

Not too long after, Null could feel himself getting drowsier by the moment. The last thing he remembers before he drifts into the realm of sleep is Reinhardt's faint, pleasant scent.

He could certainly get used to this.


	7. Chapter 7

His vision was hazy, and the glare of the dim light wasn't helping. Null found himself standing in a dimly lit room, and a calendar in the corner told him the date was August 28, 1940, but it could be outdated, the pages yellow and rotten at the edges. There’s a noose in his hands, the rope coarse and rough on his hands, but why?

Something’s not right. He remembers part of this life, but he didn’t die from hanging himself. What’s going on here?

A piece of paper lying innocently on the floor catches his attention. He wants to check what it says, and somehow, he actually reaches down. Is this a dream _of_ a memory?

_To whom it may concern,_

_My name is Ardor Null, also known as George Hamilton. By the time you have read this letter, I will already be gone. I have chosen to hang myself, as a myriad of disorders I have been diagnosed with makes living unbearable. Some include, but are not limited to, schizophrenia, major depressive disorder, an------_

That’s it. The word ends with a line, like he was interrupted when he was writing this. But… _he_ wrote this. Why would he make it look like he never got to finish the letter? Nothing prevented him from actually finishing, _right?_

Null swivels around the chair he stood on, finding a door, ajar, behind him. Stepping down from the chair he’s on, he steps on something that wasn’t quite solid. Something… squishy.

Null looks down, and he’s gripped with some emotion, but it takes a moment for him to put a name to it. _Fear._ It had been a while since he felt it.

He sees himself, lying on the ground, with a bullet wound in his head slowly dripping blood onto the wooden planks. His eyes were frozen open in an expression of horror, and his fingers tightly gripping a broken fountain pen.

His vision begins to darken at the edges. What the _fuck_ is going on?! He tries to calm down, closing his eyes and taking in deep breaths and slowly analyzing his situation.

_I’m in a room._

_I am about to hang myself._

_There is a letter I have written._

_The letter is unfinished._

_I died before I could finish it._

He opens his eyes, the darkness around the edges starting to  leaving his vision. He heads to the door, hoping he could find more answers outside the room.

He hears a laugh behind him- _his laugh._

An unnaturally strong grip wraps around his ankle.

He tries to scream.

Nothing comes out.

\---

Reinhardt watched Null sleep, letting him slowly drool on his pillow. His face completely relaxed, his maus looked oddly at peace this way. Normally, Null's face was always slightly contorted, always haunted by his worries and fears, among other things.

Null suddenly jerks, and instinctively, Reinhardt pulls him closer. One eyelid is slowly opened, revealing a chocolate brown pupil, still dilated from being drenched in darkness.

"Mmm. Guten morgen, liebling," Reinhardt murmurs, nudging Null's face gently with his nose. "Is something wrong?" He asks. Null's face seemed to look _extra_ stressed, his features painfully contorted. More than usual, at least.

"No… just a nightmare," he says, leaning a bit closer to Reinhardt, closer to his warmth, to his faint, masculine scent. "Have you been watching me sleep?"

"There is nothing better to do when I have you," he says, giving Null a sad smile and combing his fingers through Null's hair. Reinhardt's morning voice was incredibly deep, much deeper than his normal voice, which was already deep enough, and it flowed over Null, washing over him with sense of peace. He smiles, "and it's quite fascinating to watch you drool."

Null's face turns red, and he immediately wipes the corner of his mouth with a hand.

"Let's get something to eat," he sighs, wanting to die of embarrassment.

A spark of hope lights up in his eye. "Currywurst?" He asks innocently.

God, this man made everything better; even the horrors of his nightmare were quickly evaporating. Quietly laughing, Null buries his face in Reinhardt's chest once more, the hair there tickling at his nose.

"Whatever you want, my lion."

* * *

 

"Is something on your mind?"

Null snaps out of his trance, and his fingers spring back to life, going back to nervously twirling the fork in his hand.

"Uh? Oh- sorry."

"What's wrong? You're usually not like this."

Null sighs, picking at the bacon and eggs on his plate.

"Nothing, I hope. Don't worry about it," he says, trying to give Reinhardt his most reassuring smile, but it just made it seem even more suspicious.

Not satisfied, Reinhardt frowns and leans over the table a little to give Null a playful punch on his arm. Null leans back, but Reinhardt's fist still manages to graze his chest.

Null quickly wolfs down the remainder of his food, and gets up to head for the armory, to check on Reinhardt's armor. Reinhardt follows, not having much else to do at the moment. Living in one of the Overwatch headquarters was horribly boring with nothing to do. It wasn't like they could just go ahead and target Omnium fusion cores; that would be disastrous. All they could do is wait and stifle any Omnic activity until they find a way to safely, and preferably remotely, disable the Omnium factories.

They meet Törbjorn, who was hammering away at some sort of sentry turret, and Reinhardt breaks off to talk with him, muttering something about modifying his hammer. Whatever the case, Null is free to work on his own stuff; the workshop is right next door, and he shrugs mentally and goes in, breathing in the smell of sawdust and solder.

He lays out Argon and Xenon on a workbench, observing the gleam of the metal in the bright light. They were hardly used, and Null's staff suddenly drifts into his mind.

He could _augment it with tech!_ Thaumaturgy isn't exactly focused on channeling as much vis as possible, but rather, controlling and _refining_ vis. Without much expertise in refining the magical energy, a staff is basically a glorified battery. Technology, on the other hand, was _great_ with precision control, just what he needed!

Null summons his staff, putting it down next to his guns, until he realizes he doesn't know what to do. His hands search for a flash drive in his pouch, and when he finds it, he holds it up to the light, the metal exterior cool to the touch.

Trillions of _yottabytes_ of data sat in this tiny wonder of technology. Of course, there's no way Null could cram that much storage with traditional cells. Instead, he crammed a miniature _black hole_ in the tiny frame, using its infinitely dense core to store data. Or maybe it led to another dimension, where he dumped all his data? Whatever the case, it was surprisingly easy to achieve this, once he managed to find a way to contain and maintain a black hole in something a little smaller than his thumb.

There were definitely blueprints for staff augmentation in Caroline's database. But how would be go about resurrecting her?

Perhaps the simplest solution was the best; Null sticks it into a nearby laptop, hoping it would be powerful enough for an entire AI to boot off of. Turning the thing on, Null felt anticipation build up, a thin sheen of sweat forming on his forehead as he fiddled with the computer's boot manager, forcing it to boot solely off his flash drive.

Rebooting the system, the screen stays blank for nearly five minutes- did he fuck something up? He programmed Caroline around seventy years ago, perhaps the formatting of his code incompatible with today's standards?

Letting go of a breath, a huge sense of relief crashes down upon him as the screen flickers to life at last, and hundreds of commands after command is run in some sort of terminal.

After about minute, the terminal stops assaulting him with commands, and asks for an input.

_filepath:__

What the hell did this mean? Was he actually stupid enough to leave things this vague seventy years ago? Then again, he never actually _planned_ for Caroline to shut down, and he _was_ pretty lazy. Still is, in fact.

He stares at the screen for a moment, before trying to guess the location of whatever file it asked for. He only has one chance before the security protocols completely shut him out. If he got this correct, he might as well let Reinhardt have his way with him.

_filepath:C:\caroline.bat_

Null hits enter with surprising force, afraid that he might change his mind if he didn't pull the trigger like that.

The terminal seemed to freeze. No new commands began to run. The screen turned black a few moments after.

He's about to throw a wrench through a window when the screen suddenly flickers back to life. Sighing loudly, he watches as a circle materializes, and a terminal next to it showed an endless stream of commands being run in the background.

Null takes out an earpiece, shoving into his ear and tapping on it.

"...Caro?"

Silence. He tries again, repeating her name until he notices faint static.

" N… N… Null?"

He nearly jumps with joy, ecstatic that he managed to pull it off.

"Caroline!"

"Wha-?" Her synthesized, yet disturbingly realistic voice replied. "What happened?"

"You've been offline for quite some time now. Welcome back to the living world."

"I'm calibrating my local time with the world clock, and it's roughly 2080. What the _hell_ did you do for the past seventy years?!"

"Well, I was reborn, but I can't remember much about that past life. Everything after around fifteen gets pretty hazy."

She sighs melodramatically. "Well, you obviously didn't wake me up so we could have tea and cookies, so what do you want?"

"I want you to search through your data banks. Look for something called…" Null pauses, trying to remember. A while ago, he had conducted rigorous research on technology-augmented thaumaturgy, meddling in areas where the two met; an extremely dangerous thing to do. Whatever he found, he buried deep into archives, fearing the worse if they got into some malevolent idiot's hands. He was so scared, in fact, even Caroline didn't know about them. Until now.

"An archive named 'tech_aug_thaum'. Or something similar."

"Hmm. Give me a few hours. I'll get situated and find it."

"Go crazy. Just don't burn the place down."

"No promises," she says, her familiar sarcasm starting to set in. Wonderful. Great to know that at least her sarcasm module's functioning.

Rolling his eyes, Null packs up his weapons, finding Reinhardt waiting for him outside, a poorly masked nervous expression plastered on his face, accompanied with a faint blush.

"Hey. Is everything alright?"

Reinhardt suddenly pulls Null into a kiss in the corridor, his hands roughly sliding up and down Null's back. The kiss felt rushed, almost desperate.

"Mein maus," Reinhardt says with a tone of urgency when they break.

"What's wrong?"

"I-I _need_ to show you how much I love you," Reinhardt murmurs in his ear, his voice shaky and breathy.

Null knew this was coming, but he wasn't sure how long he could delay this. He certainly didn't expect sex to come _this_ fast, but he didn't really know much about relationships. Was sex on the first _date_ normal in this day and age? Who was he to judge- some six hundred-something year old virgin?

"I am an old man, and I do not have much time with you, mein maus. _Please,_ let your lion show you how much he loves you," Reinhardt pleads.

He _did_ say he'd let Reinhardt have his way with him earlier, even if it was sarcastic, _didn't_ he?

And perhaps he earned a little treat for his little feat.

Null looks into Reinhardt's eyes, before gently nudging his mouth back to Reinhardt's once more. Without hesitation, Reinhardt scoops him up, carrying Null to his room.

Still kissing him, Reinhardt sets Null down on his bed, using his hands to feel him up. Null moans softly into the kiss, and Reinhardt quickly slips a hand under his shirt.

Breaking the kiss, Reinhardt grunts quietly, looking at Null. He nods, giving him permission to continue, and Reinhardt helps Null out of his shirt, carelessly tossing it to the side, his eyes glazed with a familiar lust.

Reinhardt carefully nips at his nipples, making sure to be gentle enough to not hurt Null too much. He uses his large, muscular hands to grope at Null's much smaller frame, one hand settling at the growing bulge in Null's pants, rubbing it gently.

"Oh my god Rein-" his breathing suddenly hitches when Reinhardt starts to tongue the nipple, pressing harder into his bulge. Null can't help but buckle into Reinhardt's large hand, so warm and inviting to the growing pressure in his suddenly tight pants.

His lion ventures further down, gentle tugging at the elastic band around his underpants, asking for permission yet again with a curious look at Null. Too consumed by the pleasure, Null allows him, any higher level decision making completely thrown out the window for now.

Eagerly, Reinhardt pulls off his pants, massaging Null's bulge through his underpants with a firm hand. He chuckles, watching Null squirm before sliding up and nibbling at Null's earlobe.

"Ah, you like this, mein maus?" He growls into his ear, pressing harder on his bulge, massaging it.

All Null could do was moan softly as his body instinctively buckled into the pressure, his dick starting to leak pre-ejaculate, staining the fabric. Reinhardt notices the spot, and begins to thumb the spot right above the slit.

"P… please Reinhardt…" Null manages.

Happy to see his lover so wrecked like this, Reinhardt slides, nearly _rips,_ off the last article of clothing on Null, rendering him completely naked. He takes a moment to look Null up and down, taking in every detail before continuing.

Null wasn't, by _far,_ muscular in _any_ respect, his frame slender and lean, and he seemed to have tattoos here and there, although they looked like nothing more than a collection of random patterns of lines and shapes.

Null whines a little underneath his towering lion, his throbbing dick craving touch, release, _anything,_ a feeling that was completely new to him. Smiling, Reinhardt grinds his bulge on Null's for a moment, before starting to peel off his own clothing. He did so slowly and seductively, and although Null was more interested in getting release, he found himself ogling, his boner forgotten momentarily.

He stared at Reinhardt's body; his scarred skin, remnants of past altercations, his abs, not perfectly rock hard but with a thin layer of fat, his gray chest hair, thickly coating the space between his pecs, and then some, thinning to a line that led to the tiny patch of pubic hair that sat on top of his dick. Null pauses at the sight of his dick, whimpering a little. Reinhardt smiles, staring at him with his piercing blue eyes.

"Like what you see?" He grins.

Null manages a groan while staring at Reinhardt's penis. It was substantially larger than Null's, and he almost cringed a little imagining its girth inside of him.

 _God,_ what a beast this man was, so powerful and virile, and Null's mouth began to water, wanting to do _something_ with it other than moan, but Reinhardt seemed to enjoy making him do so, reveling in the pleasure Null is making so evident.

Null whimpers needily when Reinhardt finishes his little show, his hands repeatedly balling up fistfuls of bed sheets and releasing them. The man chuckles softly before going back down on him, kissing him and sliding a hand up and down his side. His beard tickled Null's cheeks, and Null runs a hand through his hair, grasping onto it, not wanting the tickling sensation to ever leave.

Null dares to put a hesitant hand on one of Reinhardt's pecs; he was afraid his lion might react badly, but he wanted to just _touch_ someone for once in his life.

"Mmm. Yes, you can touch me," Reinhardt rumbles gently, nudging his mouth back on Null's once more. Knowing he had consent, his hands began to eagerly glide over Reinhardt's upper body, finally resting contentedly on his shoulder blades, feeling the rippling muscles under the skin.

"Are you ready?" Reinhardt asks, a hand drifting to Null's dick, forgotten but still pining for release.

Null blushes nervously, and Reinhardt laughs a little.

"Don't worry," he murmurs quietly into his ear, smiling reassuringly.

Reinhardt slowly begins to slide his hand up and down, a loud moan escaping Null's lips as his toes curled. A smile grows on Reinhardt's face.

"That was just a warm up," he coos affectionately into his ear, his breath hot and heavy on Null's skin. The hand curled around Null's dick disappears, returning with something else, which Null assumed to be his member.

Still hovering over Null, Reinhardt now has two cocks in his hand- his and Null's, although they both fit in his giant hand quite nicely. He starts to pump again, the both of them soft moaning into the kiss. Slowly, ever so slowly, he picked up pace, and Null squirmed a little at the pleasure. He mewled softly, inaudible pleads for more escaping his lips.

Reinhardt is delighted when he notices something making his fingers slick; pre-ejaculate was steadily _flowing_ from Null's dick. Pausing momentarily, Reinhardt takes his fingers and puts them in his mouth, savoring the taste before going back to stroking their throbbing dicks.

"Do you like that?" he asks, kissing Null, letting him taste the saltiness of his pre-ejaculate. Reinhardt gently pushes up Null's legs, and he hesitantly wraps them around Reinhardt's abdomen.

He speeds up, Null practically holding onto his lion for dear life. His breaths became short and ragged, his fingernails starting to dig into Reinhardt's back. The world faded from view, and it was just the two of them. Nothing else mattered.

"Come for me, mein maus," Reinhardt growls deeply into his ear, squeezing their dicks tighter.

A loud moan is all that Null can manage when the pleasure of Reinhardt's encouragement sinks in, tiny shivers running down his spine. His head bends back a little instinctively, and Reinhardt almost immediately latches onto the exposed part of his neck, sucking hard.

It was too much for the thaumaturge. The pleasure, the intensity of Reinhardt's stare, the feeling of Reinhardt's mustache on his skin, the feeling of being dominated by his lion. It was all too much, and the coil of heat that had been building in his stomach since they started finally unfurls.

Null yells, buckling into Reinhardt's hand. He's vaguely aware of him shouting Reinhardt's name as he came, and he coats his chest with strings of his seed.

Delighted in Null shouting his name, it also pushes Reinhardt over the edge, and with a loud grunt, he comes as well, coating Null with another layer of semen. Still pumping, he gently coaxes out the rest of their seed, before collapsing beside Null. Reinhardt kisses Null lazily, combing his fingers through his soft, and now messy, hair.

For a moment, the only sound there is is the sound of their heavy, ragged breathing. Reinhardt's eyes become lidded, and Null strokes his scar.

His mind white, and in a soft fuzzy trance, Null manages to summon a rag to clean up the mess with. Being the gentleman he is, Reinhardt snatches it from Null without much resistance, mopping most of it off of Null's chest before tossing it to the floor.

They lay beside each other for a while, basking in the afterglow. Neither of them wanted to break the dreamlike feeling, both of them content with just laying in each other's arms, reveling in the skin to skin contact, and staring into the other's eyes.

* * *

 

His eyes flick open, and he's greeted with the coppery smell of blood. He's back in the room, he just knows he is.

The grip around his foot was gone, so that was good, and he was in the same spot like he had never left. Turning around, his corpse lay at his feet, still bleeding, but where the pen was rests a small knife. He looks up, and something's different about the room: the walls are now a crimson red, painted with something that resembled blood. The dim light provided by the single light bulb made the walls glisten, and Null gags a little.

Null tugs the knife out of his hands, wanting something to protect himself with, and is met with some resistance; his body was definitely in the early stages of rigor mortis.

Turning around, he slowly walks to the door.

He stumbles out the door, into a hallway of sorts that seemed to stretch indefinitely on either side. The hallway is lined with doors and light bulbs, all marked with strange runes he's never seen before. Some of them pulse occasionally in various colors, but to not much effect, other than to light up the otherwise bland, white hallway with colors reminiscent of those edgy gaming peripherals, boasting "16.8 million colors." Or something to that effect.

He doesn't know which door to go to first, until he hears a metallic _clink_ behind him. He turns around, facing the other end of the hallway. There, a gun innocently sat in between two doors in the distance. Curiosity gets to the best of him, and he goes to examine it.

As he walks to it, he hears muffled screaming behind a door, followed by a thought that seemed to be _thrust_ into his consciousness.

_I can still hear the screams at night._

A sudden surge of panic flood through him. For some reason, that simple thought was enough to shove him back into the past, horrible flashes of previous lives running through his mind. Forced to remember the pain, the loneliness he had endured in the hundreds of years he had been alive.

-

"Ghh…"

He shudders, rubbing his arms with his hands, trying futilely to generate heat. He had been sitting in the pile of sacks for hours in the winter cold, patiently waiting.

The footsteps were nearing. Did they know where he was? He peers through the tiny slit, the tiny window to the rest of the world in the pile of sacks he was hiding in. No one was in sight, yet.

A snowflake hits his eye, and he draws his head back instinctively, almost hitting a sack of feed and causing the pile to tip over.

_Idiot. One more mishap like that, and you're dead._

A moving figure catches his eye, and he tenses. Lightly frost bitten fingers curl around the dagger in his pocket. He grips it as hard as he can, the frostbite making his fingers numb, and unable to properly tell him if they're completely closed around the hilt.

The figure moves closer, and Null's barely able to make out his features. He carefully scrutinizes as fast as he can, confirming that the man was his target.

His heartbeat quickens, and anticipation causes adrenaline to start to flood his body. His pupils dilate, and he momentarily forgets about the cold.

The man comes to a standstill, a few steps from the pile of sacks.

 _What's going on?_ Null panics. Did the man suspect something?

 _Patience,_ a voice commands him, and he begins to relax a little.

His target shrugs a little, and starts to walk again.

He takes one step. Null tenses again.

Two steps. Null feels like he's going to pass out from the combination of adrenaline and anticipation.

The man takes a third step, and Null instantly teleports behind the man, bringing the blade across his throat.

Only, it didn't hit his throat. It hit some sort of force field, and all Null did was make the runic shielding produce a few short-lived runes appear in the air.

The man freezes, and Null tries to stab his throat again, hitting the force field again and hoping that it was exhausted.

_Shit._

Without turning around, the man elbows him in the gut. His muscles, almost frozen by the cold, were unable to react in time. He was too sluggish to ever hope to fight back.

Stumbling back, trying to regain his balance, the man uppercuts him, and he flies back a few meters, landing on his back.

His vision starry, with black spots growing in the corners, all Null could do was lie there as his target casually walks over to him.

He bends down to get a better view of Null, gently pulling off his hood.

"You know, I thought my third assassin would be much better at this."

He catches something on the man's clothes. An insignia, embroidered on his chest.

The last thing he sees is a gray lion, donning a three-pronged on its head.

-

Null gasps loudly, jolting back into the hallway, somewhat relieved his flashback was over.

He never thought much of the insignia, until now. As he sits on the floor, he finally realizes who that man really was.

He was Reinhardt's ancestor.

When he was reborn, he was too late: the Guild was already rapidly crumbling. They sent him on one final mission: avenge them. They told him that this was the right thing, perhaps for a better tomorrow for thaumaturgy. That maybe it was just what the art needed to persevere.

His hands shake as he stares at them. The hands that almost ended the man's life.

_The hands that almost denied Reinhardt's existence._

Null curls up into a fetal position, shaking violently at this point. He wanted to cry, to scream, to die, but he knew he couldn't. He had a job to do. He spends what feels like an eternity sitting there, getting over the flood of emotions.

Shakily getting up, he tries to open the door, screams still coming from behind it, but it refused to. He shakes his head, swallowing the thoughts down, and continues to walk to the gun. Upon reaching to it, he's at a crossroads, and he has to choose either right or left. Unsure of what to do, he looks down at the gun, opening whatever door it was pointed at, which was the left.

It looked strangely similar to Tracer's pistols, but Null dismissed the trivial detail. Shrugging, he goes to pick up the firearm but it simply passes through his fingers. What is this? A nightmare? Lucid dream? Is _any_ of this real? Is this all in his head?

Whatever the case, he ignores the gun, and opens the left door, greeted by darkness. Null steps into the room, the light from the bulbs outside only reaching a few feet in front of him.

One step.

Two steps.

His foot touches the darkness.

The door shuts forcefully behind him, shoving him into perpetual darkness, darker than anything he's experienced before.

He starts to fall, tumbling through perpetual darkness. He flung his arms around, hoping to find something, _anything,_ to latch onto.

A clown fades into existence, and slowly swims up to him, donning an ominous grin on her face.

He looks at the clown, her dark purple eyes seemingly piercing into his very soul.

A fog surrounds him, and it's suddenly much colder. Is that _fog_ seeping out of her mouth?

She raises a dagger, thaumaturgic runes engraved on the blade.

Null tries to move, but his muscles are paralyzed. He can't even tell if he's still falling.

She brings down the dagger, plunging it straight into his heart.

There was no pain.

His vision blurs, faint whispers of power slowly growing in his ears.

The whispers promised him absolute power. Redemption. Freedom from his immortality. _Anything_ his heart desired.

His vision clears, and he's suddenly at a beach.

Relaxing in a chair, the soft sound of palm leaves rustling in the gentle breeze serenade his ears. He looks in front of him, the sunlight dancing off the ocean in front of him, dazzling his eyes, but just enough to not blind him. Turning to the left, Reinhardt is in a chair too, stretched out and snoring lightly.

This can't _possibly_ be real, but it _felt_ so real. He struggles for a moment, trying to break through the illusions, and he completely loses his grip on reality, caving into whatever magic that stifled his thoughts.

A strange feeling of happiness and contentedness fills his chest. Not only was it completely foreign to the mage, but it felt… unauthentic. Like it was simply masking something else underneath it, viciously suppressing whatever it's covering up.

A lovely woman gracefully brings a tray of delicious looking food to them, twirling a bit and showing off her dancing prowess. He wakes Reinhardt up, and the moment he sees the food, he immediately chows down noisily.

That must be some good food.

Reinhardt looks up, wearing a smile that was strangely uncharacteristic of the man. It sent shivers down his spine, and not the good kind.

His pupils aren't the electric blue he's so fond of… right? They were a strange shade of some sort of pastel purple. Null shrugs, dismissing the trivial detail. Maybe he had remembered them wrong.

He reaches down for the tray of food, suddenly famished, when he notices something on Reinhardt's napkin.

It was bright red where he wiped his mouth. Maybe it's wine? No, wait… there is no wine.

He looks at the food more carefully, his head starting to hurt. The sunlight is suddenly brighter, nearly blinding him, but he perseveres. He's able to make out something… something pink. Something… long. Is that a _tail?_

He looks even closer, the sun burning his retinas, and it's not a tray of tropical fruits and delicacies. It's a _dead rat._ Fresh roadkill, completely raw. It was still bleeding through a deep gash in its side.

He starts to gag, the putrid odor assaulting his nose, and Reinhardt looks up.

"You little shit."

That was _definitely_ not his voice. It was at least two octaves higher than Reinhardt's, and bereft of any accent. In fact, it was surprisingly smooth, refined. Like Mortuus', but not _quite._

The man leaps from the chair at him with surprising agility, and a knife, engraved with all-too familiar runes, suddenly materialize into his hand.

* * *

 

Null jerks awake, trapped in Reinhardt's arms. Panicking, he pushes him away, forcing himself out of the embrace. Reinhardt didn't seem to notice; he continues to snore gently. He snorts a little, then lazily rolls over onto his other side.

Null climbs out of the bed, stark naked. He walks up to the glass wall on the other side of the room, staring out of it and humming an awkward tune, trying to find something to grip onto, something to comfort him.

It was _dark;_ how much time were they asleep? They had their little moment around lunchtime, and winter _did_ bring along short days, but they had to have been asleep for at least a full seven hours, judging from the clock on the wall.

Sighing and running a hand through his disheveled hair, Null tries to shift his focus to the thing that he dreaded thinking about: the nightmares. They weren't _that_ uncommon, but they were definitely getting worse. Never before were they this severe, nor did they strike twice in a row. He glances down, carefully scrutinizing his body. He places a finger on his skin, wincing at how cold it was. Moving the finger along his skin, he traces tattoos that were fading, on the edge of completely disappearing.

He could never quite figure out where the runes came from, and they seemed to have always been on him, but as the years passed, and he died and was reborn, they began to fade. At this point, two of them were about to fade completely, and Null was scared; who knew what they did? Did they protect him? Enhance his magic? Did their fading correlate with the nightmares, or were they simply coincidences?

Reinhardt grunts a little in his sleep, murmuring something about his maus and rolling over. Null wanted to return to bed, to be cradled in Reinhardt's arms again, feel safe in them again, but he couldn't. Not with the nightmares fresh on his mind.

Null picks up his clothes from the floor, quietly getting dressed and heading out into the hallway. At this time, most people were just enjoying themselves, lazing around in the lounge, or training with others, and they certainly didn't bother him. Even Törbjorn didn't look up when he entered the workshop, too engrossed in his work.

"Caroline?" He quietly whispers, pushing an earbud into his ear.

 _"What?"_ She replies arrogantly. Something must've pissed her off, but Null didn't care enough to investigate.

"Did you find the blueprints?"

"What blueprints?"

"Right. I told you to look for an archive, not blueprints. Did you find it?"

"Yeah, I got it riiiight here, but it's encrypted with some _absurd_ 524288-bit encryption. Did you do that?"

"Mhm."

 _"Why?!_ Is your kinky porn collection in it or something?"

"Uh, no. You know I hardly masturbate."

"Sure. That explains your elevated heart rate at around 2 PM."

Null turns a shade of red, glad that Törbjorn was too absorbed in his work to look up from his table, or to even find out why Null was seemingly talking to himself.

"I thought I told you to stop monitoring me."

"I never promised I would," she replies with a playful lilt.

Null sighs, covering a smirk with his hand. He was a little comforted at Caroline's snarkiness; it was familiar, and he knew that underneath her usual facade she probably cared for him.

"Whatever. Gimme the file."

"Good luck with the encryption."

The file pops up on the screen, and Null started punching in the ludicrously long string of characters he had burned permanently into his memory so long ago, the string of characters he'd lose his mind over if he forgot them.

After nearly five minutes of typing, Null hits enter, and, thankfully, he gains access to its contents, Null sighing heavily in relief. Even one incorrect character meant he had to restart, and he made a mental note to never, _ever,_ make a password that long ever again.

There was a _lot_ of stuff to sort through, and Null began to realize why his past self thought a password this long was necessary. He scrolled as fast as he could, cursing himself for not implementing a filter function.

At last, after five minutes, he finds a directory with the word "staff" in it, and he opens it up. He tries to make sense of his atrocious handwriting, but it didn't matter in the end- there was a diagram of some sort of new caps for his staff, and he knew exactly what he needed to do.

"Caro, do you have access to the Facility? No, right?"

"Uh… no."

"Can you try to reconnect?"

"Hmm…" she goes silent for a moment, scouring the internet to find a specific server. "I found the Facility's server, but I'm locked out of it. Only way to get in is to brute force the attack."

"I was lazy enough to not put any security protocols against brute force, right?"

"Of course. To be fair, it's undetectable unless you have my IP signature."

"Wait, can't you just get access with your mastery key?"

"Ugh. No, because your paranoid ass decided to _not_ let me do that."

He sighs. "How long do you think it'd take to get in?"

"Some time. I'm not a quantum computer, after all."

"Fair enough," he says thoughtfully, regretting his choice of computer architecture. "Try to boot up some machines if you manage to get in before I check on you again. We'll need to synthesize some… uh…" He glances at the blueprints. "Thaumium. The recipe for that should be somewhere floating around in the archive. Good luck."

"Yeah, leave me to do all the hard work," she grouses.

He smiles. "That's the Caroline I know and love."

"Hmph." Even though she was an AI, with no "real" mouth, per se, he could _hear_ her pout as he left the workshop.

It was around midnight by now, and nearly everyone was asleep, except for some, like him. Null decides to eat something, as he hadn't eaten anything since breakfast, and he wanders into the kitchen.

He opens the refrigerator, stocked with various ingredients and people's stuff, marked by post-its with names hastily scribbled on them. He goes to grab an egg, and realizes; he can't cook for shit. For as long as he could remember, he just accepted food from others, in exchange for his protection. Or even stole them.

He stares at the open fridge for a minute, before his growling stomach snaps him out of his trance, and he closes the door to preserve energy. Null looks around the kitchen, lit with dimmed lights, and can't find much on the counters, except for a half eaten sandwich. Groaning, Null opens the fridge once more, taking out a half empty dozen egg carton, and walks over to the electric stove. He turns it on, grabs a pan, and spends the next hour trying to figure out how to fry a damn egg.

His first attempt resulted in him cracking it open wrong, and he got yolk and raw egg whites all over the tiles. His second attempt resulted in him burning the stuff into a black powder, when he got distracted with getting a glass of water. By his fifth attempt, he got frustrated to the point where he simply gave up and settled for nibbling on a few slices of bread while glaring at the holo screen. For whatever reason, it was tuned into some sort of cooking channel, and, too lazy to change the channel, he spent the rest of the night muttering curses at skilled chefs with unwarranted contempt.

Morning eventually comes, and Null had almost completely forgotten about the nightmares. He reluctantly pushes himself off the sofa he was sitting on, which now has a dent in the shape of his ass, and trudges around the halls until he reaches Reinhardt's dorm. He places his hand on the scanner, resting it there before he knocked on it, when the door surprisingly slides open. Caroline must've tapped into the facility's mainframe, and registered his hand, giving him access to Reinhardt's room.

Damn Caroline's apparent omnipresence. At this point, she probably already figured out something was going on between him and Reinhardt, despite never having left the workshop, but at least she knew better than to get involved.

Reinhardt was sitting on his bed when he came in, watching some wrestling.

"Mornin'."

"Where were you?"

"Couldn't sleep. Had another nightmare."

Reinhardt pulls him in, kissing him tenderly. His breath was stale, with a hint of mint. He must've woken up awhile ago.

"You have nothing to fear, mein maus," he says affectionately, tightening his hold on Null.

"I hope so. Let's get some breakfast, shall we?"

"Mmm." He buries his nose into Null's hair, sniffing the faint, pleasant scent there. Why does he always smell so nice, despite rarely actually showering?

"Here. Climb on my back."

"What?"

"It'll be fun!"

"Won't that _break_ your back?" Null gives Reinhardt a concerned look.

Reinhardt guffaws, reassuring Null that no, his back will indeed _not_ break. Reluctantly, Null obeys, and he struggles a bit to sling his arms over Reinhardt's shoulders, and Reinhardt helps by stretching his arms behind him, so the backside of Null's knees rested on his forearms.

"Wow. The view…"

"Impressive, is it not?"

"So this is what it's like to be seven feet tall."

Chuckling once more, Reinhardt carries Null to the cafeteria, beaming when people saw the two of them. They'd both smile, and Null would wave, a little embarrassed at the attention they were getting.

Reinhardt lets him down on a chair, and he excuses himself to get some food for them. Ana sits down at the table too, smiling.

"Well. Looks like you two are quite the happy couple."

Null smiles, blushing a little. "What about you?"

"Don't worry about it," she snaps, which catches Null off guard. Noticing her attitude, she sighs.

"Sorry. I'm not sure what came over me."

"It's fin-"

 **_"ANA!"_ ** Reinhardt's voice suddenly booms behind them. He brings the trays of food in his hands down on the table in a loud **_thud._ ** The food and coffee in the trays jump up a little, thankfully falling back down without making too much of a mess. Like the food, Ana and Null jump a little in their seats too, jarred by the interruption.

"Hello, Reinhardt," she says shakily, quickly regaining her composure. "Good to see you're up and about."

Reinhardt flexes, showing off his impressive build to Null, who was a little stunned at how durable the table was.

"All thanks to mein maus," he says affectionately, leaning down to kiss him, and using a hand to ruffle Null's hair.

Ana scoffs and leaves  When they break, Null simply shrugs, and they begin to wolf down their pancakes.

"What's up with h-"

Reinhardt looks up, wondering why Null stopped. Null sat there, mouth slightly open, staring at something in the distance. Reinhardt feared the worst; did he find the pancakes repulsive?

"My god, these are… amazing!" Null manages through the mouthful of pancakes. "They're so fluffy and buttery! Did you make these?!"

Reinhardt smiles, a faint blush creeping across his face.

"Yes. Just for you, mein maus."

"I can't cook if my life depended on it. Can you teach me sometime?"

"Of course!"

They return to stuffing their mouths with the pancakes, when a siren suddenly goes off. This one was louder than the one for New York, and somehow, it sounded more urgent.

Another mission, but what could it be now? The Omnics had been suspiciously quiet as of late, and Null dreaded encountering what the god program had pulled out of its ass this time.

Quickly standing straight up, they make their way to the mission briefing room and, regretfully, abandon their breakfast. Summoning them from thin air, Null checked to see if Argon and Xenon were still operational, while Reinhardt walked behind Null, almost struggling to keep up with his pace.

Null knew he didn't really need the guns, but feeling their outlines in his pockets comforted him.

The doors slide open, and when Null walks in, he realizes that Athena had already explained everything. Some people just stare at them, amazed by how late they were.

"Alright!" Jack yells, bringing up a hologram of some town into view on the round table. "This is Stuttgart. Reinhardt, you're coming with me and Tracer to the outskirts. Everyone else, secure the inner city and evacuate any civilians you find. Got it? Go!" He shoos everyone out of the room with his rifle. "And Null, a moment with you. Alone."

Null freezes, wondering what he did this time.

Once again, everyone scrambles out of the room to change into something more suitable for battle.

When the room is empty, save for the two of them, Jack walks up to Null, leaning in dangerously close to him.

"Listen, kid," he begins to rasp. "You're going to the center. Find out what's going actually going on in Stuttgart. Alone."

"What?! What do you mean? Whatever's at the center, it's suicide if I go-"

"You're going alone, and that's _final._ You got that?" He looks away, at some distant object. "You're the only one here that can handle whatever's there."

In the back of his head, Null knew he was fully capable of taking on an Omnic, but there's no way Morrison could know that. Something's not right. Null opens his mouth to protest once more, before wisely closing it. He knew when he was defeated, and he slumps his head a little.

"Yes, sir," he mutters quietly.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the wait, it's been a rough month. Enjoy!

**_"GAH!"_ **

Null paces around the small confines of the carrier, frustrated. He moves his hand sharply, cutting through air, and a nearby panel explodes, revealing circuits underneath as the metal sheet falls to the ground.

"You okay?"

The little outburst was enough to calm him down, and Null sits back down, burying his face in his hands. He was more or less alone with Caroline, as he was the only person going to the center, Athena being the carrier's pilot.

"No. I'm _not_ fucking okay," he sighs.

"Care to get me up to speed?" she asks loftily.

"They think I… did something to Reinhardt, and I'm just trying to cover it up. They're deliberately separating us. If Reinhardt was there, he'd been adamant that he accompanied me on this mission."

"Hmm."

He sighs again. "Whatever. Let's just get this over with, I'm more than capable. Did you least make the wand cap?"

"Wha- oh, yeah. That thing. I can't access the entire Facility yet, but apparently the synthesizer machine thinga-ma-bobs were on a low security level of the network. Who knew our security was so lax?"

"Whatever. Did you make the cap or not?"

"Yeah. Comin' your way."

He pulls out a metal, circular pad from his pouch. It resembled a wireless charging pad, but was much more thinner, sleeker, and impressive in function.

Laying it down on the table, Null watches a mostly purple wand focus appear into existence in front of him. He picks it up, examining it.

Covered in blue particles, remnants of the teleportation, Null shakes them off a bit before turning it over in his fingers in quiet fascination.

Its circular base was made from metal; probably titanium, light yet strong. From there, it three purple prongs sprout from the base, tapering off to a rounded end, probably so he didn't accidentally stab himself if he fumbled for it in the dark. The focus resembled a miniature crown, a hollow center to slide over a wand cap, but runes carved into it made it clear it wasn't a simple toy.

Oddly enough, the purple prongs, made from thaumium, felt fake. Plastic, almost, and strangely warm to the touch. If he applied too much pressure on it with a thumb, Null could dent the metal, but the thaumium would slowly fill in the dent, reverting back into its original shape. He didn't remember thaumium having these regenerative qualities, but he didn't care. He simply put it over a golden endcap on his wand, smiling a little at how satisfying the fit was.

Years, _decades,_ of research led to this. Hopefully, it works.

The carrier jolts as it landed, and Null steps out, taking one last look at the poorly furnished interior of the carrier.

He gazes out, scanning his surroundings; mostly dense forest, and he's tickled with some feeling. He remembers this place; the aura here felt all too familiar.

He takes a step, onto the forest floor, a surge of energy going through him as his foot hits the ground, muffled by the dead grass and leaves. He looks down, convinced he had dropped something.

"You alright?" Caroline's voice is enough to jolt him from his trance, and he notices the time; he had been standing, staring at the ground for nearly ten minutes now.

"Yeah…"

Shaking off the feeling, Null pushes through the foliage, hacking away at the leaves in his way with his staff. Caroline quietly hums an off-tune melody into his ear, which he found to be slightly annoying, yet comforting.

Just like the good ol' times. Just the two of them, doing whatever they wanted.

Only, Null had an actual mission.

"Caroline, gimme a map of the area."

He glances at his wrist, a tiny hologram of a bird's eye view of the nearby vicinity hovering an inch above his smartwatch.

A little arrow pointed in the direction he was facing, and he could see an edge of the forest on the map.

He hacks away at some more foliage, until he stumbles onto the open plains. A sense of childishness washes over him, and he briefly closes his eyes, opening them again.

Wonder. He was in awe at how large the plains were.

His feet start to move, almost on their own, slowly. He trudges along the tall grass, and he starts to speed up. He's slow at first, stretching out a hand so his fingertips brushed the tips of the grass, tickling him.

"...Null?"

He's vaguely aware of Caroline's voice, and he suddenly breaks into a run, laughing. He skipped, jumped, ran in circles, eventually tripping and landing on his back.

The landing knocked the air out of him briefly, and he soon found himself to be laughing loudly, trying to spot the sun with the grass obstructing his view.

His laughter eventually dies down, and he sits up, a little dazed.

He was happy.

The epiphany crosses his mind as he watches the grass sway in the gentle breeze, completely focused on one particular blade where a butterfly rested on.

_He was happy._

For the first time in all his lives, he felt genuine joy. True, pure happiness, one of a child. Of a person whose innocence was still intact.

Null was experiencing the happiness that he was denied. The childhood he was denied. Forced to completely discard any shred of innocence he ever had as a toddler. Surrendered his happiness, his obliviousness, his securities, and all for what? Stuck in a perpetual cycle of life and death, and having the task of defeating the God of corruption bear down on your shoulders?

Null's euphoric trance evaporates, reality quickly crashing back down on him. He pauses, waiting for Caroline to say something, but she didn't. They were both as equally baffled as to what had just happened. Null moves on, scrambling to his feet.

He murmurs something, and steps forward, instantly teleporting into Stuttgart.

Null looks around, a little stunned at the destruction.

From afar, the city looked beaten up, smoke rising from the high rise buildings, but inside the actual city, the destruction was beyond quantifiable.

Glass littered the streets like a thick carpet, and mangled steel beams stuck out from the ground; reminiscent of the destruction in New York, but something _different_ did this. Null wasn't sure how, but the signature of the destruction looked weird, different from the demolition in New York.

He treks closer to the center, carefully stepping over piles of brick, glass, and metal.

It was quiet. _Too_ quiet. The only sound was Null's breathing, and the _crunch_ his boots made as they further pulverized the glass confetti.

A gentle breeze blows on his face, and Null quickly turns around, spotting a wind chime in the distance, dangling on the remains of a front porch.

Null resumes his walk, reawakening his boots' enchantments, remembering that they existed.

All around, his surroundings seemed to be unchanging; just more smoldering remains, broken infrastructures of once proudly standing skyscrapers. Pipes poked from the ground occasionally, flooding the streets and avenues with water and, thankfully only sometimes, sewage. Open flames dotted the landscape, and Null ignored them, not wanting to find out if they were electrical or not.

An omnic suddenly falls in front of him, kicking him into a frenzy before he realizes it was beyond operational.

A street around a corner catches his attention; it looked oddly clean, devoid of glass and metal. Null turns around the corner, skidding to a halt due to his boots, and stands still in awe for a moment.

It was like whatever ran through this place deliberately _avoided_ this street. Houses lined either side of the street, and they were perfectly intact, with not a single shard of glass sitting on the asphalt.

This definitely deserved further inspection.

"Caroline. Any heat signatures?"

"One."

"Where?" He begins to fumble for his staff again, a little alarmed.

Caroline laughs. "Just you."

Cursing under his breath, Null hesitates, not wanting to step onto the street. It looked _too_ clean, and he felt almost guilty dirtying it up, bringing over glass fragments from the rest of the city. He puts a tentative tip of his boots onto the street, before Caroline's urging forces him to fully put down his foot.

Immediately, a chill runs down his spine. Null feels a hand wrap around his throat, and he chokes momentarily.

"Did you see that?!" He exclaims, rubbing his throat.

"Huh? Null, seriously, are you alright? It's been awhile since I gauged your sanity. You sure you don't need anything from me?"

"I swear I'm not going crazy. Not y _et…_ "

Dubious, Caroline shuts up, watching Null wander the streets through his eyes.

"Let's see what's going on with this house."

Null climbs the stairs that led to one of the innocent-looking houses' porches. He knew he should be on alert, vigilant, even, but he couldn't help but feel relaxed. If this mission was supposed to be dangerous, where's the actual _danger?_ The horde of Omnics, hell bent on destroying him? Instead, he's just wandering around the streets of Stuttgart, although he has to admit, the silence, plus the untouched state of this street seemed pretty ominous.

Quietly opening a hole through the door, Null climbs in, filling the inside with a gentle, warm glow from his staff.

The house seemed perfectly fine, like whoever was living here just stopped… living here. Not much of a mess. Probably evacuated the city just ten hours ago.

A glint of light catches his attention, and Null bends down to pick up the object.

It was a photograph of a happy couple. The two women in the photograph were standing in front of the Eiffel Tower, taken just as they started to lean in for a kiss.

"Caroline… can you ID this woman?" He points to one of them.

"Who?"

"She seems… familiar," Null mutters, ignoring Caroline's reply.

Caroline doesn't have a witty reply for him, and stays silent. Null shrugs, and puts the framed picture on the coffee table, heading upstairs. The stairs creaked with his every step, and Null cringed with every step, hoping that he was truly alone, and no one was waiting around a corner, ready to stab him.

He's greeted with a hallway, and, walking down said hallway, he opens the last door, which presumably led to the master bedroom.

The bedroom was massive, and a giant window gave him a view of Stuttgart, in all its smoldering glory. The bedroom was surprisingly modern looking, despite the rest of the house being relatively old fashioned.

He screws up his nose, noticing a weird, and faint, scent.

Null opens the nearby closet and finds a woman hanging from the ceiling. He jumped in surprise at first, but then moves closer for further inspection.

The woman was definitely not in the photograph.

"Caroline, can you ID _this_ woman?"

"Uh, _who?_ "

"The dead one. In front of me."

"All I see is a bunch of clothes. And some… bras?"

Immediately, Null closes the closet shut, running down the stairs and bolting out of the house.

"Null?"

"Okay. Maybe I _might_ be hallucinating," he says, holding the door shut with his back to it. He had seen enough horror movies to know where staying longer would lead him to. "I'm going to take a break. Is there any food in the network?"

"There's some _really_ stale crackers."

"I'll take 'em."

"Oh, uh, about that. I fed earlier to some rats I found hanging around."

_"Why?!"_

"They were hungry!"

"So am I!" Null sighs, but he wasn't angry, simply frustrated. He knew to expect Caroline to pull shit off like this by now.

He heads across the street, heading to another one of those old-fashioned houses, opening another hole and climbing through the door. Null wanders around, quickly finding the kitchen.

Thankfully, there was still power here, and he grabs a small container of yogurt, rummaging through the drawers to find a spoon to eat with.

He peels off the plastic cover, licking the underside of the top before shoveling the stuff into his mouth quickly, and trying his best to not make a mess. Null wanders a little from the kitchen as he eats, and he hears wood faintly creaking around a corner. Putting down his yogurt, he summons his staff, and presses his back on the wall.

Null quickly turns the corner, bringing up a shield, and he nearly drops his staff.

"Ah. Looks like you've found me."

"Pravus."

He gets up from his rocking chair, and almost glides as he walks around. His image seemed weird, like he was solid, but not at the same time.

"Looks like we can finally have a nice, civilized, conversation. Isn't this meeting nice? So peaceful, bereft of those _mundane,_ just the two of us." He cocks his head. "Just like you always wanted."

Null clenches his jaw, the grip on his staff tightening. Pravus always seemed to wear that smug smile, and Null would give _anything_ to wipe it off his face. But alas, he knew he couldn't do much against him, especially in this pseudo-solid form.

Null crosses his arms. "Like _I_ wanted?"

Pravus smiles sadly. "Welcome home, _son._ "

Null's eyes widen. _"What?!"_

"Oh, come on. After all these years, and you still haven't figured things out?" Pravus frowns, disappointed.

Null's head began to spin, his world crumbling as his mind raced through every implication.

"I… No! You're jus- _ergh!"_  A headache blossoms in his head, threatening to send him into the world of unconsciousness.

He sighs, smiling a little. "Oh, my. It's even worse than I thought."

Pravus looks around the living room, gliding silently around Null.

"You don't believe me?" He smiles. "I think it's time you learned the truth."

"No!" Null struggles against Pravus' magic, his movements becoming heavier by the moment.

" _Silence._ All will be clear soon."

"Urgh-if you _really_ are my dad, why did you kill mom? And Retha? Matt?!"

"Matt was one of _them._ Your mother didn't believe me, and I was forced to. Your sister was simply collateral damage."

"Who the hell is _them?!_ "

Null's muscles finally become paralyzed, and he's forced into a chair. Pravus gently floats in front of him.

"I don't have much time. Bear with me."

"Hrgh."

"You thought the Prince was paranoid? That he brought about the end of thaumaturgy? No. He wasn't scared of thaumaturgists. He was scared of _you._ "

He pauses, letting his words sink in.

"You see, you had a knack for channeling vis. And people envied you for it, wanted it for their own. The Eldritch was one of them. Strange as they are, they are still affected by our natural greed too, and they wanted _you_ specifically."

"Why?" Null manages, his lips heavy.

"You've felt it too, right? The… disruption in the aura. Like something's off. That's the work of the Eldritch. They wanted you so they could revive their own magic, and right now it seems they're trying to do it on their own."

"What magic?"

Pravus turns around, a strange fear in his eyes.

" _The seventh primal._ "

"What?! How-there's only six! And they all counter each other! Ordo, perditio, aqua-"

"-Ignis, terra, and aer. Yes, I know, but that's why the seventh is so dangerous. There's nothing to keep it in check, in balance, and it's unacceptable. Ever heard of the Crimson Cult?"

"I thought they were simply legends."

"No. They're real. See, when the first Guardians cast away the Eldritch, sealing their power from the world, the Crimson Cult became obsessed with reawakening and harnessing Eldritch power. Those Eldritch Guardians you've encountered before? Former Crimson Cult members, completely and utterly consumed by the Eldritch, and now they're nothing more than pure… Eldritch. And the Prince feared the worse if they got ahold of you, feared what would happen if the Eldritch could tap into your capabilities.

"So he went about trying to kill you. He knew you'd completely destroy everything if he tried to kill you directly, so he whittled at the thaumaturge population. Slowly but surely, deliberately saving you for last. At least then you wouldn't be able to rally a small, yet powerful, army."

Null closes his eyes, his head spinning in bewilderment.

"I still died to his poison."

Pravus gives him an apologetic look.

"That wasn't poison. It _was_ purus essentia."

"No-"

"I'm sorry, Ardor. I tried to protect you, I really did, from both the Taint and Eldritch. I forced my way into the position as Pravus, tried to keep the taint away from you as best as I could. But as it always does, the taint got to me too. Your father, as you know him, isn't alive anymore. I am simply the tiniest fragment of him, desperately clinging on so you could hear me once more. You didn't die to poison. The essentia killed you. You _are_  the weapon the Taint was preparing."

"No, no no _NO-_ "

"Quiet," Pravus mumbles, and Null's throat refuses to make any more noise. Pravus touches a wall, feeling the wood there. "You've felt it too, I believe. Those fleeting feelings of happiness. Remnants of your brief childhood, when you grew up here, in this very house. I believe your lover lives here now.

"I need you to do me one last thing. I know I wasn't there for you, Ardor, but please promise me this."

Null gasps as his throat finally lets him speak. "What?" He asks contemptuously.

"Retrieve the pearl. End this madness."

"What do you mean?"

"How do you think I managed to rise to become the God of Taint? The old one isn't there anymore. He's Ordo now."

"Wha-"

"Listen. I know it's complicated, but our names aren't exactly our _real_ names. They're simply… titles. We're figures, representatives of the actual power. The Ancients are what really drive us; we simply leech their power, and in return, we carry out their will. I can't fend off the Ancient of Taint much longer. The more I revel in its power, the more consumed I am by its motives. It's only been a few hundred years, a blink in the grand scale of things, but I can't do it much longer. Recently, I've had other contenders successfully wrench the position from me. The blizzard was the work of one of them."

He raises a hand, peeling back his sleeve to reveal skin that appeared mutilated, taken over by some sort of dark purple organism. There was some sort of central tumor, and branches of it stuck out in random directions, covering his hand.

"It's taken over almost all of my soul, or at least, what remains of it. I implore, you _have_ to get the pearl and restore the balance."

"What… what about the Eldritch?"

He smiles sadly, raising his hand again. "You'll find a way. You always do."

"Wait!"

With a quick motion with his hand, his father, or what remained of him, dissolved into the air, taking one last look at the son he had raised.

"I still have so many questions…"

For the first time in his life, Null finally begins to tear up for his parents. For as long as he could remember, he was fueled by his hatred towards his father.

But his father was never evil. All he wanted was his safety.

Null sobs quietly, his body refusing to at least get off the floor. He wanted to reject the idea that he was some sort of weapon that the Taint was cultivating, some sort of super soldier that could bring the entire world at its knees at will. He tried to find other possibilities, but the more he thought about it, the more he realized that no other excuses could explain everything.

"Ordo" only granted him immortality so he could have time to train, to refine his prowess in thaumaturgy.

The rune that the Council placed on him was only because they realized he might actually become a threat to the Taint, with his free will and whatnot.

His recruitment into Overwatch wasn't simply a happy coincidence; his Trial was deliberately easy, and they knew who he was because of Pravus.

If all that's true, then his father surely _knew_ he'd fall for Reinhardt, but why?

"To see you happy."

Null jumps a little, startled by the voice. He forgot that Caroline could basically read his thoughts.

"He knew how miserable you were, always trying to keep yourself awake. Your dad just wanted to see you happy before he finally left the world."

Null nods, agreeing with Caroline.

"And to think, all this time I thought he was evil. That he _wanted_ to kill my mom."

"This is quite the conclusion, but I've noticed some weird behavior recently; Jack forcing you to trek to the center alone, Ana scoffing and leaving when Reinhardt kissed you, for example. Is it possible that… whoever created the blizzard tried to get you alone, and finish off the process here? Cut off the 'training' process short before you got _too_ dangerous?"

"That… actually makes sense. But what about Reinhardt? He's more loving than ever… if that person, that _thing,_ wanted me dead, he could surely do something to Reinhardt."

"Maybe your dad wanted you two together for more than just you being happy."

"What are you trying to say?"

"I'm not going to delve further. That's enough tin foil for today."

"I hate when you do this."

"I don't want to make _too_ many absurd predictions in one day."

He pouts, getting up to retrieve his yogurt, when someone barges through the front door.

**_"NULL!"_ **

He's forced into a tight hug, almost enough to break his bones.

"Ergh- Reinhardt- you're… crushing me!"

"My apologies. Have you been crying?"

Reinhardt lets go of him, and he brushes off his clothes even though they were perfectly clean; a habit of his.

"That's not important. How did you get here?"

Reinhardt beams. "I insisted on visiting my house! Jack wasn't too happy, but I came anyways! What are _you_ doing here?"

"Oh… nothing. Just stealing your yogurt."

"Have some more! I wonder where Brigitte is…"

"Who?"

"This girl who traveled with me and worked on my armor when Overwatch collapsed. When Winston recalled everyone, I let her stay here. Cozy, is it not?"

Now that Null takes the time to look at it, he begins to see some familiarities. "Your room was modeled around this interior, yeah?"

"Correct! You are such a smart little maus!" Reinhardt smiles again, picking up Null into a hug. "Want to see my bedroom?"

A little shaken from recent revelations, Null smiles wearily. He'd be more than happy for some distraction.

"Are we _just_ going to stare at the decor?"

Reinhardt gently pecks his lips. "Whatever you want, mein maus." He growls gently, with a lusty look. A few silent exchanges later, Reinhardt carries Null up the stairs, quietly closing the bedroom door behind them.

Null barely takes notice of the inside of the room as Reinhardt sets him down and starts to kiss him, a hand already massaging Null's groin.

Reinhardt slowly ventures down, kissing his jaw, while Null laid his hands on Reinhardt's biceps, feeling them. They felt sturdy and weird, and Null wondered what it was like to have arms as muscular as Reinhardt's.

Null's musings are interrupted when he suddenly feels a sharp, but tiny, pain; Reinhardt was already down to his nipples, gently teasing them with his teeth through his shirt.

He chuckles. "Eager?"

Reinhardt pauses for a moment. "A little bit," he admits, giving Null a fond look before grabbing at his shirt, tugging at it to signal that he wanted it off.

Obediently, Null slides his shirt off, Reinhardt helping a little.

Reinhardt steps back for a moment, admiring Null's body.

"Schön," Reinhardt murmurs, his eyes a little glazed.

He takes a hand and brushes it along his skin, tracing fading scars. He was curious about them, but Reinhardt decided he could ask questions after.

Null shivers at Reinhardt's touch, reveling in the sensation of muscular, yet gentle, hands on him. Suddenly, Null's pulled into a tight embrace, and Reinhardt kisses him deeply.

Null never realized until now that he loves the feeling of being completely controlled by another man. He moans into the kiss, weakly and futilely fighting against Reinhardt's hold. He tugs at a corner of Reinhardt's shirt, and Reinhardt lets go, letting Null help him out of his shirt.

A massive hand is placed on Null's crotch again as Reinhardt bears down on him, sucking on his neck. Null starts to moan, then whimpers, finding himself starting to crave more.

"S-stop teasing me, Rein-" Null's cut off when the hand squeezes the tip of his dick, and he buckles into the hand again, whining needily.

Reinhardt sits back. "Ah, you are an impatient little maus, aren't you?" Reinhardt chuckles. "If you insist."

Reinhardt opens a nearby bed table, rummaging through a drawer before extracting a convenient bottle of lube. Null's head was a little hazy, and he didn't question how Reinhardt knew he was going to get laid a few months in advance.

"Scheisse. No condom."

"Is that a problem?"

"Are yo-" He stops himself short. "This is your first time, isn't it?"

"Well, yeah. Sorta…" Null replies, feeling a bit self-conscious.

Reinhardt smiles, giving Null a quick kiss. "Then I will fix that soon," he murmurs into his ears, a mischievous smile dancing at his lips.

Reinhardt pours a substantial amount of lube onto his palm, and spreads Null's legs, letting them rest on his shoulders.

"Are you ready?"

Null gives him a nervous glance, nodding as he prepared for the worse.

Reinhardt slowly slides in one finger, fighting against Null's tightness. Null grunts softly, and this encourages him; Reinhardt pushes in a little faster, until he hits a little lump, and he smiles when Null whimpers his name, followed by his legs squirming for a second and his dick throbbing momentarily.

"How does it feel?"

Null thinks for a moment, shifting his body a little. "Weird," he concludes.

Slowly pulling out his finger with a slick sound, Reinhardt puts in two. Slowly inching towards this knuckle, Null gasps, makes a noise. Immediately, Reinhardt freezes, afraid it hurt.

"I-I'm fine. Just a little shocked at how thick your fingers feel…"

Nodding, Reinhardt resumes, slowly inching his fingers even deeper, until he's knuckle-deep.

Reinhardt takes a quick glance at Null, eyes shut tight as he struggled with these new sensations.

"Are you okay? We can do something else."

"Yeah-" he manages as he lets out a breath. "Keep going."

Still cautious, he begins to slide his fingers in and out, slow at first but picking up speed a little when Null doesn't seem to flinch.

A gentle moan escapes Null's lips, and with every thrust, Reinhardt could feel Null starting to loosen. Reinhardt wraps a hand around his forgotten boner, slowly stroking it.

Reinhardt was patient, careful to loosen Null enough that he felt it was sufficient for his dick, but Null wasn't. Swept up in this tide of unprecedented levels of lust, Null finds himself almost begging to be fucked already. Reinhardt refuses, wanting to make sure Null's first time was as enjoyable as possible.

After Null's third plead, Reinhardt relents, satisfied with how loose Null was now.

"Are you sure about this?"

"Just stick it in before I change my mind."

Smiling, Reinhardt takes his dick into his hand, stroking it a few times to get it hard again. He pours a generous amount of lube onto his palm, giving his dick a nice coating of the stuff.

Reinhardt leans forward, mumbling into Null's ear.

"If there's any problem, tell me and I will stop. Understand?"

"Yes," Null replies uneasily. Reinhardt gives him a quick kiss, nudging their faces together before leaning back.

Using his hand to guide it, Reinhardt pushes his dick against Null's entrance, pushing harder and harder until it pops in. Null takes a sharp breath, and shuts his eyes in response.

"Mmm… you are so tight!" Reinhardt mumbles softly, reveling in the pleasure before remembering about Null. "Does it hurt?"

"No… it-it just feels so _big. Ergh._ Stop worrying about me." In the back of his head, Null realized that Reinhardt cared if he was hurt, but he was too consumed by his lust. He just wanted Reinhardt to have his way with him, but for some reason, Null felt too scared to ask for that from Reinhardt.

"If you say so." Reinhardt pushes it in at an agonizingly slow pace, but Null's reactions tell a different story. He whimpers incessantly, tears brimming at the corners of his eyes as his body tried to adjust to accommodate Reinhardt.

Reinhardt stops, and starts to open his mouth, but a look from Null kept him going.

"Almost there. You are doing great, mein maus!"

"Uh-huh," Null replies shakily, breathing heavily; it felt almost like he was being torn in two.

A few agonizing seconds pass, Reinhardt pushing deeper ever so slowly, when Null feels muscle hit his buttcheeks.

"How does it feel?"

Null tries to shift to a better position, when he realizes that he shouldn't.

"Ergh… huge…" Null manages, looking up into Reinhardt's eyes. Eyes brimming with tears, he could barely make out Reinhardt's scar.

Reinhardt leans over, kissing him and muttering soft words of encouragement into his ear while rubbing his back, sending shivers down Null's spine.

"Just relax. I will take care of everything."

Null nods, watching Reinhardt pull back a little, gasping at the sensation. Reinhardt stops momentarily, analyzing Null's distressed face.

"Safe word is catalyst," he murmurs. "Say it."

"C-catalyst."

Satisfied, Reinhardt resumes, softly thrusting forward and eliciting a gasp from Null, that quickly turns into a moan.

He grins, doing it again, taking in the sound of Null's pleasure. Slowly, he picks up pace, restraining himself a little in fear of hurting Null.

Null, on the other hand, was swimming in a wonderful combination of lust and pleasure. He tries to look at Reinhardt, but every time he does his attempts are foiled by a sudden thrust, and he forcefully shuts his eyes.

Reinhardt hits a little bump, and Null yelps, tensing up. Pleasantly surprised, Reinhardt smiles, and leans forward to kiss Null, to cradle him as the pleasure subsided.

"You like that, mein maus?"

Null's vision sharpens a little, able to make out a massive Reinhardt inches from his face.

"Y-" Null begins, only to have Reinhardt kiss him. He starts to thrust a little, and Null moans softly into the kiss, wrapping his arms around Reinhardt's neck. The thrusts begin to speed up, but Null was a little more comfortable with having Reinhardt in him, and at this point, all he could feel is pleasure as his endorphins took over.

Reinhardt hits that little magic spot again, and Null tenses up, the coil in his stomach starting to threaten to unfurl.

"R-Rein," he makes out softly through the thrusting. Reinhardt doesn't seem to notice him, partially due to being too consumed on fucking Null, and partially due to his loud grunts. Null puts a hand to his face, rubbing the scar, and Reinhardt looks up, slowing down a little.

"I-I'm clos- _ergh!"_

His eyes are shut tight as Reinhardt hits his prostate once more, and Null finally comes. Still leaning over him, Reinhardt's chest is covered in Null's seed, thick ropes of it glazing his abs. Watching Null come was enough to push him over the edge too, and, with a loud grunt, Reinhardt comes inside of Null too, filling him with his warm seed. Reinhardt pulls Null into a deep kiss, carefully pulling out of Null.

Reinhardt pushes his index finger onto Null's entrance, keeping his seed from leaking out. Null summons a rag, and begins to wipe off Reinhardt, before throwing it away into some cosmic void. The two lay in each other's arms for a while, basking in the afterglow. Eventually, Reinhardt pulls a heavy blanket over them, and without much protest, Null drifts off to sleep. Reinhardt watches Null sleep for a bit, before also drifting into the welcoming embrace of sleep, the thought of a shower far in the back of his mind.

* * *

 

Null slowly comes about, propping himself up with an elbow. A dull pain in his ass is the first thing he notices.

Reinhardt was snoring lightly, looking at peace, and Null glances around, trying to figure out what he was going to say when he woke up.

Instead of nightmares tonight, he had dreams of the pearl. Mostly just visions of it sitting innocently near him as he watched TV with Reinhardt, but dreams nonetheless. Clearly, his father is doing everything he can to get him to get the pearl, and it was working. Null had a suspicion he had to retrieve it eventually, and his father only confirmed them.

He'd happily do it, but the catch? Null couldn't allow Reinhardt to accompany him. It was too dangerous; the pearl resided in the Eldritch's world, dubbed the Outer Lands by ancient tin foil cults, presumably referring to the nature of their world; the "outer edges" of sanity, almost.

He watches the sleeping crusader a little more, his heart threatening to burst. It's only been about a week since they met, and Null has to leave, likely never returning.

He kicks off the covers, getting dressed before going downstairs, fixing them a small breakfast; mostly just cornflakes. His cooking skills wouldn't allow for anything much more extravagant.

Null stares out the window, watching the smoldering ruins of Stuttgart around him as he munched on the horribly stale cereal.

Eventually, Reinhardt does wake up, and he finds Null, staring at the TV in a sofa chair.

"Mornin'," Null says quietly, jerking his head a little towards the cereal box.

"Guten morgen," he rumbles in his morning voice. "How are you feeling?" He takes a seat next to Null, eating slowly as he stares at the holoscreen; it was tuned into some new station from a few cities over, and the caster was discussing the destruction of Stuttgart with his partner.

"A bit sore."

Reinhardt smiles, bringing an arm around Null's back, rubbing him. "That is to be expected."

They stare at the TV a little longer, before Null decides to break it to him. 

"Reinhardt, I have something I need to tell you."

"Hmm?" Reinhardt gives him a look. "You can tell me anything, Null!"

"I…" Null's voice cracks. "I need to leave."

Null flinches when he hears a spoon hit the edge of the bowl. "Wha- what do you mean?"

"I- I'm going somewhere very, very dangerous, to retrieve the Primordial Pearl."

"A quest?!" Reinhardt beams. "This is _exactly_ what I've been waiting for my whole life!"

"No- Reinhardt, I can't take you with me. It's too dangerous for you."

"Impossible! I am coming with you!"

"No-"

"I am coming, and that's fin-"

"You'll **_die!_** " Null shouts.

It was silent for a moment. A little taken back at Null's outburst, Reinhardt's face turns solemn, then a little warm.

"Then at least I'll die with you by my side," Reinhardt replies, cupping Null's face with a hand. Null opens his mouth to protest once more, before giving up. If anything, his lion was a stubborn one.

"I love you so much," is all Null says, giving Reinhardt a broken smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Schön - beautiful  
> Scheisse - shit


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Better late than never, eh?

Null revels in the sensation of hot water running down his back, partially closing his eyes.

After they had returned, Reinhardt made "them" official, and insisted that Null moved in with him. There was, of course, no easy way to say no.

So here they were. Null was quick to undress and leap into the large shower, while Reinhardt took his sweet time getting undressed, slowly shrugging off his shirt and letting Null's eyes feast on the sight.

Mind a little hazy with lust, Null's a little startled when Reinhardt wraps his arms around him, humming a melody before bending down for a kiss.

"Wow," Null says when they break. "I've never noticed just how  _ much _ taller you are than I am."

"Really? By how much, do you think?"

"About… half a meter?"

Reinhardt smiles, picking him up and holding him close.

"You are such a small little maus," he growls affectionately into his ear.

"And  _ you _ are such a big lion!" Null giggles a little, a feeling of contentedness washing over him as Reinhardt cradled the smaller thaumaturge. "Let's just finish showering before we do anything else."

A little disappointed, Reinhardt nods in agreement, setting Null down.

They shower; Reinhardt offers to shampoo Null's hair, doing it anyway regardless of what he said. Reinhardt lathers it deeply into Null's scalp, massaging his skull a little _ too _ hard, but Null didn't complain. Null returns the favor, and Reinhardt bends down a little so Null could reach his head of hair, now matted down and covering a little of his scar.

"Now, what are we going to do with all this body hair?" Null buries a hand into the wet, white hair, curling some around a finger.

"I usually just shampoo that as well."

He shrugs. "I guess that works."

Null lathers some more shampoo into Reinhardt's generous amount of hair, eventually reaching his pubic hair.

"Thank you."

"As long as I get to fondle your chest."

They rinse off, and Reinhardt lends Null one of his ridiculously large towels. He takes one, but doesn't use it. Instead, Null wipes himself with a hand, the water evaporating around it as it moved.

Null dries Reinhardt too, but it takes a while due to Reinhardt's massive body. Eventually, he reaches his dick, saving it for last. Immediately, Reinhardt's dick throbs in Null's hand, clearly excited from the touch. He gently pushes Reinhardt onto the bed, making him sit on the edge.

Glancing at Reinhardt, Null slides his dick into his mouth, eliciting a gentle moan from the man.

Null shudders a little; the thought of having the power to make his lion squirm, moan, and come for him was intoxicating. He briefly wonders if this is what is was like to top someone, before a gentle hand is placed on the back of his head, lightly pushing Null further down on the dick in his mouth.

Unable to fit the whole thing in his mouth, Null chokes as it hits the back of his mouth, and he gags, violently pushing himself off. Immediately, Reinhardt scoops him up, worry filling his eyes.

"Are you okay?"

"Argh- yeah, I'm fine. Gag reflex, I guess."

"Do you want to continue?"

Null thinks about it for a second, shifting a little in Reinhardt's arms.

"Not really, but if you want me to, I'll try."

"I don't want you to do anything you're not comfortable with. Understand?"

Null smiles a little. "Thanks. So… what now, then?"

Reinhardt wraps a hand around Null's dick, and starts to pump. Surprised, Null draws a sharp breath, moaning a little.

Reinhardt slides Null down a little, until he was sitting in front of Reinhardt's dick, erect and still coated with his saliva. Reinhardt takes both dicks in his hand, and pleasures them both at the same time.

Null could hear Reinhardt murmur sweet nothings into his ear, and between the feeling of Reinhardt cradling him, and a tiny pain as his lion nibbled on his earlobe, it didn't take long for Null to become undone.

He shouts Reinhardt's name, and coats his chest with his seed, burying his face in Reinhardt's armpit and deeply inhaling his scent.

"Mein maus, you are so adorable after you come," Reinhardt murmurs into his ear.

Null turns around, not caring that he's getting his seed on Reinhardt's chest, and pulls Reinhardt into a kiss, teasing a nipple with his free hand. Reinhardt's furiously stroking his dick at this point, and it doesn't take long for him to come too, shouting Null's name in the process.

**_"Ardor!"_ **

Null jerks back a little, surprised at Reinhardt.

"Oh! I am sorry!" Reinhardt tries to explain, snapping out of his daze. "I just… your first name was the first thing that came t-"

"No, it's fine. I'm just not… used to hearing it." Null lays back down on Reinhardt, cleaning them up. "Don't apologize."

Reinhardt grunts softly, nuzzling his face into Null's. They drift off into the realm of sleep, a warm, fuzzy feeling in Null's chest.

* * *

 

Null's the first to wake up, accustomed to not sleeping at all. He slides out of bed and gets dressed, wandering into the lounge to get some coffee for them. He walks in, and notices a Christmas tree.

"Caroline, what day is it?"

"Two days until Christmas. You didn't get Reinhardt anything,  _ did _ you?"

Shit. He completely forgot about the impending holiday season. Null was so used to being alone that celebrating Christmas, or Thanksgiving, even, was an insult to his loneliness.

He freezes on the spot, racking his mind on what he could get Reinhardt.

Maybe he could upgrade his armor? The last time he messed with it, it didn't turn out so well…

Some music? The man  _ loved _ Hasselhoff, but Reinhardt probably owned all his albums by now. Y'know, since he couldn't really make more albums.

Damn it. Null mindlessly prepares some coffee, an anxious feeling building in his chest.

Leaving a mug behind for Reinhardt, which was enchanted to keep the coffee warm, Null leaves the base, hoping to find something if he went window shopping.

* * *

 

"No way he'll like  _ this. _ "

Null turns the sweater in his hands, feeling the somewhat itchy wool.

"What do you mean?! Old people  _ love _ ugly sweaters!" Caroline chimes into his ear.

Sighing, Null neatly folds it back, putting it back down on the table. He's spent hours looking around for something, frantically zipping around stores. He wasn't even sure what Reinhardt's tastes were like, except his obsession over currywurst, but that'd be a terrible present.

"I guess I'll have to try to play around with his armor," Null mumbles in defeat.

"Yay!" Caroline  _ clearly _ wanted to play around with it.

Null wanders into an alley, hidden from sight, and murmurs,  _ "iter," _ teleporting back into the HQ.

He wanders into the armory, taking Reinhardt's armor off the stand and putting it on a hover platform. Pushing it alongside as he walked, Null made his way to the workshop, Caroline excitedly talking about things they could do to the armor.

"Hey Torb."

Turning around, he smiles a little, waving Null over.

"What's up?"

"Well, since you're with Reinhardt now, I was wondering if you'd come to my house for Christmas. Reinhardt usually reads to my kids, and it's the cutest thing."

"Oh, uh, sure!" Null was never fond of the holiday season; he never had anyone else to spend it with, but the prospect of spending Christmas with others, admittedly, excited him.

"Alright! I'll leave you to your work now." Törbjorn cranes his neck, seeing the armor on the hover platform. "Ah, upgrading his armor?" He chuckles. "Good luck."

"Thanks."

Null breaks off, laying down the armor on a table and unmuting Caroline.

"-fit it with even  _ more _ rockets! We could have a portable fireworks show!"

" _ Still _ going on that tangent?! Ugh. Give me a map of the armor."

"Hmph."

Holograms appear in front of him, giving him detailed information on what was underneath the surface of the armor. The location of chipsets, thrusters, hell, even where the  _ weak spots _ were.

"Hmm. Let's start with replacing the metal. Maybe thaumium. How much do we have?"

"More than enough."

"Alright."

Null carefully pulls at the exterior, setting aside the metal plates that covered the armor. It took him a while, as he didn't want to damage circuitry that controlled the thrusters.

Null finally looks up after he completely strips the thing of metal, catching a glimpse of the sun through the window before it dipped below the horizon.

"It's getting late. Where's Reinhardt?"

"Ignore him for now. Time's ticking."

Reminded of his deadline, Null returns his focus on the armor. He has Caroline replicate the armor pieces, and within an hour, he's already reassembled the suit.

"What now?" Caroline asks, a little disappointed. "All you did was make the armor purple."

"Runic shielding!"

"What."

"It's pretty cool stuff."

"You have fun with that. I've got some rats to feed."

"Just don't let them get out of hand."

"I can always pump neurotoxin through the ventilation."

"Why is killing always your first option?"

"It's the easiest."

Null opens his mouth to contest, before he realizes he doesn't have a counter for her. 

"You win."

Null scrawls runes on the armor with a staff, leaving a golden trail wherever his staff touched the armor. It was pretty; the staff was almost like a pen, leaving behind a shimmery, golden ink on the purple armor. When he completes the final rune, the runes pulse once with energy, before fading away, melting into the thaumium.

Null picks up a hammer, bringing it down as hard as he could on the armor.

The hammer never touches the armor. Instead, it hits an invisible wall a few inches above, golden runes briefly appearing just in front of the hammer's head, before fading away.

"Perfect."

"Are you just going to give him purple armor?"

"No. I can adjust the color." Null takes out his staff, poking at the armor and murmuring a stream of words under his breath. Slowly, the purple metal becomes silver, and Null holds up a piece of the original armor to check that they are, indeed, the exact same shade. Null also has Caroline laser-etch the designs from the original, like the number 08, positioned around his left bicep.

Finally happy with the result, Null glances at a window, noting the darkness of the sky.

"Gettin' late. I should probably return to our room."

"No shit. Dinner was served two hours ago."

He puts the armor back on its stand in the armory, draping a large, red cloth over it. Caroline wanted to wrap it in wrapping paper, but Null refused to do so. It was stupid to wrap something as large as Reinhardt's armor, and it was  _ armor _ . Not something like a pair of socks.

The door  _ whooshes _ softly as it opens, letting Null through.

"Hey."

"Where have you been?" Reinhardt makes room for him on the bed. "I saved you some dinner."

Null smiles. "Thanks," he murmurs, letting Reinhardt wrap an arm around him and pull him closer. Reinhardt was watching some wrestling match on TV, and Null watches for a bit until he's handed a bag. He carefully takes out the large container inside, popping off the lid and letting the scent waft into his nose.

"Spaghetti and meatballs- and they're still warm!"

Null starts to wolf down the food, careful not to drop any of it. Not that it mattered, anyways; he could always just clean the sheets with a little magic, of course.

Reinhardt grunts softly, and Null looks up, noticing his sad look.

"I have a feeling you're still hungry. Want some?"

"No… it's yours. I've already had my portion. I had quite a bit, in fact," Reinhardt says, rubbing his belly.

"C'mon." Null winds some spaghetti around his fork, putting it to Reinhardt's lips. Reinhardt gives him a look, before slowly opening his mouth and letting Null slip the food in.

Null guffaws, feeding him another bite. "God, you're adorable."

Reinhardt makes a noise, glad that his mouth is too full to actually say anything.

Eventually, the wrestling match winds down, and they finish Null's dinner. Turning off the lights, Null snuggles close to Reinhardt, feeling protected as his large arms wrap around him. With a final sigh, Null's eyes open and close once more, the dull  _ thump _ of Reinhardt's heart lulling him to sleep.

* * *

 

Null chuckles internally as Torb's eight children gather around Reinhardt, shoving a book into his hands.

"Aren't they just the most adorable little things?" Törbjorn says quietly to Null as he gently stroked his wife's hair.

"Yeah," Null agreed, sinking a little deeper into his armchair. "They way they tore into their presents… not so much." Null recalls the frenzy that was this morning; they would scramble over each other, shoving until they got their box, filled with computers, phones, and sometimes ugly sweaters. Reinhardt surprised him with Argon and Xenon, reengineered by Törbjorn and some other engineers at Overwatch to give them more  _ oomph _ . Enough to actually out damage simple combat spells, Reinhardt claimed.

A wave of guilt hits him, reminding him of the disappointed look on Reinhardt's face when he didn't pull a present out his ass.

It was about half an hour after dinner, and  _ holy shit _ was the food amazing; Null just wished he hadn't eaten so much. His senses were starting to dull and his brain threatened to send him into a food coma.

Null opens his mouth again, before realizing that Törbjorn had already disappeared with his wife. Was Reinhardt's reading supposed to distract their kids so they could get frisky?

Whatever the case, Null pushes himself out of the chair, sneaking his way to Bridgette.

"Hey, if Reinhardt asks, I'm going to go lay down," Null whispers.

Bridgette nods, somewhat engrossed in whatever Reinhardt was reading; Null didn't care much for children's stories, and the only thing he could note was that Krampus was mentioned a few times.

Null walks down the hallway, brushing his knuckles along the walls. A turn around the corner, and he's standing in front of their room.

Sluggishly, Null takes out his key and unlocks the door, closing it behind him before crashing onto the bed. It was ridiculously big, made to accommodate his lion, and Null stretches out on the mattress, reveling in the softness of the bedding.

He stares at the ceiling for a bit, the light fixture beginning to burn his retinas.

Gathering his strength, Null undresses, throwing his clothes on the floor and pulling the blanket over him. It isn't long before he drifts into a deep sleep, his belly content at how full it was.

* * *

 

Null jerks awake, his field of vision filled with Reinhardt's chest hair. Slowly, he squirms his way out of his hold.

"Huh. No nightmares," Null murmurs, sitting up.

Reinhardt was passed out near him, a few bottles of booze on the nightstand on his side. Funny, it was hard to imagine Reinhardt, of all people, to get drunk.

Null gently prods Reinhardt awake, the man responding by gently swatting him away.

"I am tired, mein maus."

Rolling his eyes, Null gets dressed, waltzing into the dining room for some water. He found Törbjorn's wife frantically trying to prepare breakfast.

"Please... help... plate?" She asks with a thick Swedish accent. She probably hardly knew   any other words in English, but her confident smile told him that she didn't care.

Null walks over to the stove, taking a look at what was cooking; eggs, bacon, pancakes, and other dishes, their scents drifting up and melding into a wonderfully heady smell.

He plates the food, teleporting everything into place, while she stared in awe. Null laughs a little, stealing a piece of leftover bacon to munch on while he went to wake Reinhardt up again.

Opening the door, Null lays down next to Reinhardt, rubbing his face.

"Wake up," he quietly murmurs.

The Crusader grunts, gently swatting his hand away. Frowning, Null nuzzles his face on his beard.  It was enough to rouse Reinhardt, and his good eye is slowly opened, grumbling softly.

"Mornin'."

"Argh." Reinhardt yawns. "Is breakfast ready?"

"Mhm." Null rubs his face. "There's  _ currywurst, _ " he whispers in his ear.

Immediately, Reinhardt's completely alert, pushing off the covers.

"And it is  _ mine! _ " he declares, stretching.

"Here." Smiling, Null hands him his clothes, staring at his body for as long as he could.

They walk together back into the kitchen, holding hands for the first time. It was a bit difficult to walk side by side; Reinhardt's large frame barely fit with Null's in the hallway.

Törbjorn's kids  _ aww _ as they sit down, fond of the couple.

"You two are so  _ cute! _ " One of the older girls comment. Blushing, Null thanks her, while Reinhardt piled currywurst onto his plate.

They eat, the room filled with the general din of chatter as the kids talked, and Null eventually convinces Reinhardt to try something  _ other _ than currywurst; the bacon and eggs. Immediately, Reinhardt falls in love with  _ that  _ instead, and wolfs down quite a bit.

"You've got quite the appetite!" Null comments, rubbing Reinhardt's belly. "You should probably leave some for the kids."

"No worries! Törbjorn always has tons of food to feed his family. This is only the beginning! There's probably at least two more plates of  _ currywurst! _ " Null could notice Reinhardt's voice tremble in excitement as he thought about the German delicacy.

Null laughs, returning to his food. "Alright, big guy," he says, just to see Törbjorn's wife disappear and return with another huge plate of bacon.

Eventually, the food disappears from the plates, and the chatter dies down. Leaving the dining room, they pack up their belongings and play with the kids in the living room while they waited for a carrier to come and pick them up.

"What's that?" One of the younger girls ask Null, pointing to the back of his hand.

"Oh, this? It's just a tattoo."

"It looks cool! I want a tattoo too when I grow up!"

Null laughs, tentatively rubbing the fading tattoo. "Don't get any big ideas, your dad might not like it! Besides, it's not just any tattoo. It's a magic one!"

"Magic?"

"Yeah!"

"What does it do?"

Null racks his mind for a second, and he gets an idea.

"This!"

Null snaps his fingers, and the air around them begins to sparkle.

"Wow!" She jumps excitedly. "I want one!"

"Hmm. Maybe you can ask my tattoo artist when you're older!"

"Who is he?"

"I'll tell you when you're old enough," Null replies, booping her nose.

Reinhardt silently watches the exchange, smiling a little. "Looks like our ride's here." A large object silently hovered outside.

Null nods. "Here, take this."

"What does it do?" The girl says, turning the small stone in her hand. It had the same rune on the back of Null's hand engraved in it.

"It'll protect you." Before the girl could ask any more questions, Null says goodbye to the rest of Törbjorn's family, and they all get in; Törbjorn, Null, Reinhardt, and Bridgette.

"Hiya!" Tracer shouts from her seat. "Had a nice Christmas?"

"Yeah. How long until we're back?"

"So, how did you like my family?"

"They're a lovely bunch."

Törbjorn chuckles. "They seem to like you too. Here, this is something from them."

Null's handed a small square box, wrapped in striped wrapping paper. "Thanks!"

"Well, open it! We won't get back to headquarters anytime soon."

Null steals a glance at Reinhardt, feeling a little guilty that he didn't get to reveal his present to him yet. Reinhardt himself was busy talking with Bridgette, catching up with the current state of Stuttgart and clearly making sure he seemed disinterested in the gift.

"If you say so." Quickly ripping the neatly wrapped paper, Null's presented with a bottle of champagne.

The engineer smiles, a little surprised too.

"Wow, thanks. A little something to take Reinhardt's edge off, isn't that right?" Null nudges Reinhardt, getting a soft grunt in response.

Soon, Tracer lowers the Orca, letting Bridgette get off. Null falls asleep in Reinhardt's arms, and, before long, they arrive back at headquarters. Null barely registers the light of the halls as he's jostled in Reinhardt's arms to consciousness, and he panicked a little.

"Reinhardt," he croaks, suddenly aware of the champagne bottle he cradled in his arms.

Reinhardt looks down, an inquisitive look on his face. Null climbs out of his hands, handing the champagne to Reinhardt.

_ "Tenebrae," _ Null murmurs. As expected, Reinhardt's eyes grow wide, yelping a little now that he can't see anything.

"Wh- what have you done to me?!" Reinhardt stumbles around a little, and Null has to give the champagne a little levitation to make sure it didn't shatter when it fell out of his hands.

"It's okay, big guy," Null gently puts a reassuring hand on his arm. "Just follow me."

Reluctant but bereft of any other choice, Reinhardt lets Null guide him to the armory.

"Stand here- yeah, perfect."

"Is this a prank, Null?"

He doesn't answer.

Pulling the drape off his armor, Null prepares to undo the blinding spell.

_ "Lux." _

Immediately, Reinhardt's able to see again, the cloud of darkness in front of his eyes lifting.

"Wha-?"

"Ta-da! Merry… er… belated Christmas!" Null says, gesturing at the Crusader armor. "I've made some… improvements."

"Like?"

"It's stronger, and more resistant. Both physically and magically!"

Reinhardt brushes his fingers over the metal, drawing them back momentarily. He must've felt the odd warmth of the metal.

"Watch."

Brandishing Argon, Null readies and fires, the projectile seemingly vaporizing in thin air before it hit, with nothing to show for it save a few runes that appeared for a moment.

"Amazing!" Reinhardt smiles, then laughs. Before he's able to react, Null's scooped up and put into a tight hug, face buried in Reinhardt's chest.

"I knew you didn't forget," Reinhardt growls into his ear, giving him a kiss.

Null smiles, happy to see his lion so happy. "Y'know, we have some champagne to drink," he says, waving the bottle.

"And I have a maus to love," Reinhardt growls, giving him a delightfully lecherous look, one that sends shivers down his spine.

Null buries his face into Reinhardt's chest, bracing himself for what would surely be a wild night.


End file.
